Growing Up With Dreams
by GoodMorningFlower
Summary: In modern life, our favorite Naruto characters live through tragedy, romance and carefree times as they suffer personal issues and learn what love is. Baseball is their one link to the happiness and freedom they all share. Will they reach their dreams?
1. Valentine Nightmare

**Growing Up With Dreams**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters. They belong to Misashi Kishimoto. As well, I do not own any of the characters from The Big Windup! They belong to Asa Higuchi.

**WARNING:** YAOI. Boyxboy. Don't like it, don't read it. As well, we have changed some of the characters from Naruto and Big Windup. Names and faces will remain the same but ages, personalities, occupations, etc will be altered. **THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING! **Also, a majority of the cities are real cities in Japan. The ones located on the Island, Yumenoshima, however, are fake. So the Island itself and the cities, Shi Yume, Kagen no Yume, Chīsana Yume, and Nōmin no Yume and the Mountain, Hoshi No Miyama, etc, and anything else on the Island is fake.

**EXTREME DRAMA!**

**Chapter One – Valentine Nightmare**

It was a warm day on the train to Shi Yume, the main city on the Island. A beautiful February day. While they didn't get snow this far down on the Island, the temperature still dropped enough to make one dress warmer. It was still a perfect day though. Perfect day to work. It was days like today, with the sun shining down and reflecting off the distant Philippine Sea, that made Namikaze Minato love his job. It wasn't the prettiest job, nor easiest, but it paid well and he enjoyed doing it. Being a Private Investigator was an entertaining job. Especially when his wife joined him.

Oh yes, his wife, Uzumaki Kushina. What a fiery, intelligent woman she was! And mother of his 5 year-old son, Naruto. Ah, life was good. No, not good, fantastic! Things were really picking up for him lately. He had been picking up more and more missions and had been succeeding in 98% of them. This led to him getting the big job today: meeting with the infamous Uchiha Detectives.

They were the elite of elite. Top of the class. The Uchiha's were the most well known family of Japan. Their family had been serving the Police for generations and every one of their departments was extremely excelled. It was an absolute honour to be meeting them. In person, no less.

In fact, the Uchiha's _requested_ to see Minato and Kushina today. They asked to meet Minato here on the train. Of course, Minato and Kushina being from Nōmin no Yume, a little farm town on the East side of the Island, they had to take the train to Shi Yume on the South side. It wasn't too long of a ride, but it made Minato antsy, conducting such matters in the public. Though Uchiha Fugaku assured him that the train to Chīsana Yume, the smallest town on the South West corner of the star-shaped Island, was virtually empty. That was good enough for Minato.

The train sounded the small alert, signalling their arrival at the Shi Yume Station. Minato's heart leapt a little with excitement. This was it! This was the meeting he had been waiting for! Beside him, Kushina reached out and gripped his arm in silent support. He looked at her with his blue eyes alight, grateful to have her with him. Her violet eyes were warm and comforting as the people on the train filed out. Minato wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, planting a gentle kiss on top of her bright red hair.

After a vast majority of people left the train, Minato was beginning to wonder if the Uchiha's were really coming. The car was next to empty and the train signalled the closing of the doors when Fugaku stuck his hand in the door, making it reopen before he stepped inside, followed by a beautiful, dark haired woman.

Minato instantly put on a large grin and let go of his wife to step forward and bow respectfully. Fugaku followed suit before turning to introduce the woman behind him. She smiled softly. "This is my wife, Uchiha Mikoto. She works under me for most of my cases," he explained, his deep voice matching the ruggedness of his appearance. Minato nodded his blonde head in understanding, bowing politely towards Mikoto.

"Nice to meet you. This is my wife, Uzumaki Kushina. I believe you two spoke over the phone to arrange our meeting," Mikoto introduced the love of his life to the detectives. They both bowed respectfully before Fugaku cleared his throat and got to the point of business.

"I'm sure you are aware of Orochimaru? We have been tracking him down for quite some time but we are having a difficult time pinning anything on him. He's a slippery creature..." Fugaku scowled, making him look a lot older than he already did.

Minato nodded. He knew of Orochimaru. He was the CEO of Nāga Corporation, a science testing facility, creating cures for various cancers, medical advancements, scientific improvements, floral medicines, floral hallucinogen, chemical development and lab testing. The "Seven Heads" of Nāga*. Because of all the advances and breakthroughs Orochimaru and his company have created, the government had turned a blind on the last three. Minato never liked Orochimaru or his stupid company and he supposed the Uchiha's didn't either. That was why they were here now.

"We seem to be working on our own to bring him down; no one else is willing to help us. That's why we need you. You need to dig up whatever you can on him. Give us some proof of what he's doing, some irrevocable evidence that will _make_ the government realize just what he's doing," Fugaku explained, his tone gruff and irritated. He crossed his arms and his eyes were dead calm like any mans would be while trying to calm his rage. Apparently, this had been a problem for a while.

Minato grinned and hugged his wife around her waist lovingly. "Sounds like a perfect job for us! We'll take it!"

The train swiftly travelled into the tunnel winding through the hills bordering Chīsana Yume. The train cars were enveloped in darkness and the train tracks thundered under the weight of the locomotive as it trundled along its fixed path.

Fugaku sat silently as Mikoto spoke up and started talking about the details. Minato listened eagerly, making mental notes as the soft spoken woman informed the couple of what they wanted to see.

Though, fate had this strange way of ruining the most beautiful of moments. Here, with his beautiful wife, discussing a matter that was making him more and more excited with two of the most renowned people in Japan, life was perfect. Life could do no wrong for Minato and Kushina. And Minato firmly believed this until he heard a loud crack from on top of the tunnel he was currently in and the sound in the train was deafening as the hill the tunnel was built through suddenly gave way to an unfriendly rockslide. It was strange to Minato. The roof of the car started buckling and caving under the pressure of the land and it was all in slow motion as he grabbed Kushina and pushed her onto the floor, trying desperately to protect her with his own body against the quickly collapsing metal coffin. Though he was not impervious to metal, nor rock, nor death, and over the loud thundering of rock, Minato heard his own, blood curdling screams in a deathly acappello song with Kushina, Fugaku, Mikoto, and what other few passengers could be heard in the other cars.

The last image that was imprinted in his mind, the last imagine his bright, crystalline eyes would ever see, was the pained expression on Kushina's face. The soft face and harsh eyes that said, 'I love you. My only regret will be not watching Naruto grow up'. And Minato had to agree...

...

What a lousy day. Really. Waking up so early in the morning to go hiking and plant a censor bomb was just too much trouble. Weren't there any other Explosive Technologists that could have been contacted for this job?

Well... this _was_ an underground operation...

And he _was_ just about the only person who would brave the wrath of the law to make a beautiful explosion. An _artistic_ explosion. So he hiked up the hill without stopping until he reached the tunnel for the electric trolley. Stage One: Set the explosives. This was probably one of the harder things to do. Finding the right level of explosive to cave in layers of hard sediment cleanly and in a proper sized perimeter to ensure no survivors. He had to measure out the perfect amount and the perfect distance. Any mistakes could ruin this beautiful, clean canvas.

After he was confident in the layout of his dynamite, he activated the detonators on them before hiking down to the exit of the tunnel. It was exciting to see Chīsana Yume from the top of this hill. It was also exciting to blow up the tunnel so close to the city! It was definitely a new experience for the blonde Specialist. Climbing down as quickly as he could without making himself fumble, he reached the yawning mouth of the tunnel and set up the motion sensor on either side of the tracks. Turning them on and setting them for the appointed time, he quickly climbed back up the hillside, grabbed what was left of his gear, and walked/jogged as fast as possible from the site.

This was going to be one fantastic explosion! Maybe, if he could get close enough, he could even take pictures of the aftermath to show his employer. Not that he wouldn't see it on the news, but he could get up close before any of the cops, fire crew, and medical staff got there. That meant uncensored, raw, footage of the beautiful carnage. Ah yes. Today wasn't such a bad day after all. The man smiled, feeling a proud sense of accomplishment as he made his way to the minimum safe line to watch his work of art.

...

Man, today was just a tear jerker. Today was Valentines' Day. The day of love, to show your special people how much you care for them and for the women to buy chocolates and cakes for the men they know. This being said, there were a few other reasons for this day to suck. One: the train tunnel leading to the smallest town on the map was just blown to bits, destroying the train, tracks, and leaving no survivors. Two: from reports, some of the people on the train were married, happy parents. Three: Those parents had young children in kindergarten... and Four: Graduation from Kindergarten was two weeks away...

Now it was _his_ job, and his partners, to go find the families and children and tell them the bad news and find news homes for them. Today was such a depressing day.

He drove to the kindergarten the children were at. Was it a coincidence that the three of the 5 kids he had to see were in the same school? Naw, it wasn't anything fishy... well, besides the fact that some ass just blew up a train a killed a dozen people.

With a heavy heart, the officer went to the principal's office and asked to see the specific children after explaining what happened. Her amber eyes filled with tears, feeling sorry for the children. She knew each of them and their parents and this was indeed a tragedy. She led the officers down the hallways of the small school to the room where all three children were. Calling out their names, she waited by the doorway to the class room until the little 5 year olds toddled over happily.

Seeing their happy, innocent and happy faces made the officers want to turn around and walk away. Did these children really deserve to have their hearts broken like this? They were 5! They didn't deserve this at all. They were probably expecting to see their parents' happy faces and tell them all about their day... to get excited about their graduation into elementary school.

Instead, he had to try and explain to them that their parents died because some bad man decided to blow up the train tunnel...

"Kids," the officer began by kneeling down in front of the trio and took off his hat in respect, "I have some bad news about your parents..."

The little blonde one just tilted his head to the side, curious. The dark haired one blinked and frowned and the little redhead just stood there, waiting.

"I'm sorry to tell you but... your parents have died in a train incident... so we have to relocate you and give you new homes..." he paused to see what their reactions would be, if they understood at all.

It seems they all did. They all knew the meaning of 'dead'. The blonde kids' bright blue eyes widened and instantly filled with salty tears. The dark haired kid stood there in shock, his little mouth hanging in open in disbelief as his tears gathered slowly and the little redhead looked dead. The life drained from his sea foam green eyes and he stared blankly at the officer. This made the man concerned so he reached out a gentle hand to hold the boys shoulder.

The boy was rigid. Cold. Unresponsive. It was like he just shut down, unable to deal with the knowledge of his parents' death. He couldn't really blame the boy, but maybe a counsellor or therapy would be needed for this one. The other two had broken down and started crying, holding each other desperately though the blonde one was trying to calm the dark haired one.

"It's ok, Sasuke-chan... It's ok, you still have me... we still have each other, Sasuke-chan..." he whispered between sobs. It was sad, watching them try to brave something no one had any right to go through. The principal, Tsunade-Sama, had tears falling down her own cheeks as she knelt down to try and comfort the sobbing children.

"We will take you guys to the Police Station until we can contact your immediate family to come and take care of you, ok?" the officer tried to speak softly. There was only so much you could do after you told them that their parents were dead, but he really did need to take them to the station to do some digging to figure out who could take them.

"Sasuke-chan... can Sasuke-chan come live with me?" the little blonde boy asked, his thin arms still circled around the dark haired boy named Sasuke.

"I don't think so, son. It's up to his family to decide where he goes," the officer replied sadly. There was nothing more he wanted than to let these kids live together but that wasn't his job. It broke his veteran heart to hear these kids try to comfort each other, promising things that couldn't be kept. So he picked up the blonde one and stood while his partner picked up the dark haired boy and the principal picked up the catatonic redhead.

He set all three kids in the back seat of his Police Cruiser, buckled them all up and jumped into the drivers' seat in the front. His partner jumped into the passenger seat and looked at him with a grim face. He returned the look before making the long trip to the station. Now for the hard part... contacting the families...

...

"Hello, this is Corporal Takeda of the Kaigen no Yume Police Department. Who am I speaking to?"

"_Uh... this is Umino Iruka..."_

"Umino-San, I am sincerely sorry to have to contact you this way to inform you of such bad news... but you were written down as the Legal Guardian of one Uzumaki Naruto. I'm sorry to inform you that Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina have passed away in the train incident by Chīsana Yume today..."

"_Oh... oh no...that's terrible...is uhm...is Naruto ok?" _Was it just him or did Iruka just sob? It was muffled, a kind of strangled cry... he must have been close to Naruto's family...

"Yes. Naruto-Kun is just fine. He's been trying to console the two other boys who lost their parents as well. Despite his own heart break, he's been making jokes and trying to distract them. He's cute," Corporal Takeda smiled into the phone even though Umino-San couldn't see it.

"_Heh, yeah, sounds like him. I live... not too far from his parent's house... I'll be on my way over right away to pick him up..."_

"Ok, thank you very much and again, I'm terribly sorry... my sincere condolences..."

"_Thank you..."_

...

"Hello, this is Corporal Takeda of the Kaigen no Yume Police Department. Who am I speaking to?"

"_Uchiha Itachi."_

"You sound a little young, how old are you, son?"

"_Nine."_

"This can't be right... do you have any immediate family living with you or near you?"

"_No. Recently, everyone has been passing away... it's just me, my little brother, Sasuke, and Mother and Father."_

It was here that the Corporal realized that these children would have to be put into foster care... they might not even be able to stay together... how sad.

"Son, I'm so sorry to tell you this but you're parents have just passed away this morning... and since you don't have any immediate family, you will have to be put into Foster Care... I'm terribly sorry," Corporal Takeda felt a headache coming on.

"_No need. We have family friends who can help us out. Just bring Sasuke home..."_

"I don't think that's..."

"_My mother and father always talked about us living with them if anything were to happen. They have a legal document and everything. Just bring Sasuke home."_

"Son, it's more difficult than that I'm afraid..."

"_I'll contact the neighbours and get them to phone you and sort it out. Just bring Sasuke home," _the little boy on the other end of the line hung up and the Corporal was left a little dumbfounded. Well... that went a little differently than he thought it would. Regardless, he had to contact these neighbours if there was some sort of Guardianship Arrangement for the kids.

What a long day...

...

"Hello, this is Corporal Takeda of the Kaigen no Yume Police Department. Who am I speaking to?"

"_Orochimaru, CEO of N__ā__ga Corporation."_

"Orochimaru-San, I am sad to inform you that Shikkari _blah_ and Shikkari Karura have passed away in the train incident this morning and I have you listed here as the Legal Guardian of Shikkari Gaara, Shikkari Kankuro, and Shikkari Temari. Is this correct?"

"_Yes, that sounds right... did you want me to come pick up the children and their things?" _

"Yes, that would be best...I'm truly sorry to have to tell this news and force the kids on you but..."

"_No, no, don't worry. I have no issues with it at all. I'll be there in a short while..." _

"Ok, sorry again, Orochimaru-San."

The dial tone rung out loud in the Corporal's ear so he set the phone down on the receiver and frowned at his desk. Was he doing the right thing? This Orochimaru didn't sound concerned in the slightest. Not for the children, not for the parents. He almost sound like...he was expecting it. Like he knew the phone call was coming. Patient and bored... calculated...

Corporal Takeda felt a shiver of unease spill down his spine. Were the kids going to be ok with this man?

...

True to his word, Iruka showed up at the Police Station in record timing, making the Corporal think that the Guardian sped like a mad man. No matter though, he must just have been that worried about Naruto and that was a good sign. Officer Takeda felt a bit reassured that at least one of the kids was going to a good home.

"Hello, you are Umino Iruka?" Takeda asked, leading a small Naruto by the hand towards the approaching man.

The man nodded and as Iruka came closer, Takeda could see that his eyes were bloodshot and swollen. He must have been crying on the drive over. "Thank you for taking care of Naruto...is there any documents I need to sign?" even his voice was rough and shaking.

"You'll have to see a judge and get them to verify the transfer but you can have Naruto with you till then. The court hearing is in a week. Go pick up his clothes and things for now and see where things go after that," Corporal Takeda explained, handing Naruto's tiny, tanned hand to Iruka.

Iruka nodded and smiled a clearly fake smile. "Thanks for all your help, officer."

"'Ruka-San... I... I want Sasuke-chan to live with us... and Gaara-kun too?" Naruto asked, tugging on Iruka's shirt eagerly. "Please? I really like Sasuke-chan and Gaara-kun... please? I'll take care of them, 'Ruka-San," the blonde boy pleaded.

Iruka knew of Sasuke. The youngest Uchiha was Naruto's best friend and has been since they were in the crib. He could try his best but Iruka doubted he could get custody for Sasuke. Besides, Sasuke had an older brother, didn't he? He couldn't afford to look after 3 kids... it would be hard enough looking after one. And Iruka had no knowledge of Gaara. The boy must just be new this year.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, it's up to their families. Besides, you'll still see them in school, right?" Iruka tried to soothe the troubled child. While Naruto remained unconvinced, Iruka thanked Takeda again and picked up Naruto, bringing him back outside to his car. Takeda watched with a heavy heart for a moment before looking over at Sasuke and Gaara, still seated in the waiting room.

Gaara was still catatonic and unresponsive to anyone who tried to talk to him. And while Sasuke had stopped crying, he was almost as closed off as Gaara. Though he did respond to people, he kept it cut short and brief, not able to form a proper sentence. He stayed with one-word answers. At least he was talking though.

Well... next was Gaara. Orochimaru should be there soon. Maybe Takeda could find someone better for the children than this man. There was just a bad vibe, a sense of instinct tingling in his gut and alarm bells in his head whenever he thought of the business man. And Corporal Takeda trusted his instincts. There was definitely something wrong but there wasn't much he could do.

He could always write a warning down in the report and hope that someone higher up read the report and looked into it. But that was about it. With a heavy heart and pressured mind, Takeda walked back to his desk to wait for Orochimaru.

...

Orochimaru finally came, later than Takeda would have liked. But he was there none-the-less, so the Corporal had to be somewhat grateful. But the moment the veteran police officer laid his brown eyes on the CEO, he disliked him. He disliked his voice on the phone, his careless demeanour, and now he disliked the look of him. The man carried himself with an air of arrogance and self assurance. Like he owned the world. If Takeda was a dog, his hackles would be up.

He knew a snake when he saw one.

"Hello. You must be Orochimaru-San. I'm Corporal Takeda; we spoke on the phone," Takeda approached the slimy, thin, pale man. Despite his gross outward appearance, the tall, sickly man was well groomed.

"Yes, thank you. Where is Gaara?"

"Uh, he's just in the waiting room with Sasuke-kun... but you should know about the..."

"The court date, yes, yes. I already know. Next week. Are Gaara's siblings at school or home at the moment?"

"I think they are still in school but..."

"Ok, I will see you on the court date, thanks," Orochimaru, flung his long, black hair behind his shoulder and made his way to the waiting room and grabbing the catatonic redhead. Gaara only briefly acknowledged that someone was taking him away from the police station before completely closing off again and Corporal Takeda's blood boiled in silent rage as he watched Orochimaru in his light grey business suit push Gaara into the backseat of his ¥ 5, 736, 194* sports car.

There wasn't much he could do about this situation, there really wasn't. He wanted to do more for these kids but that would be getting personal and in his line of work, that wasn't a very good thing at all. He could lose his job and Takeda didn't want that. He thoroughly enjoyed his job.

Maybe... just maybe there was a way for him to get those kids away from Orochimaru sooner... The elder sister, Temari, was 13 or 14 right? So, Corporal Takeda would find something for the kids before Temari turned 18. 5 years was a long wait in the hands of someone like Orochimaru.

...

Sasuke was quiet in the backseat of the police cruiser as Takeda drove the winding road up to the address that was scribbled on the piece of paper in his hand. It was fairly close to the Uzumaki Residence but the Uchiha home was in a larger district with a small distance between the two young friends. There was no telling how the boys would get along after this disastrous happening of fate.

Takeda spotted the address and pulled up alongside the large family home, parking his car with a sigh and stepping out. With tired eyes, Takeda looked up and examined the sullen structure looming before him and looked at the dark haired pre-schooler glaring daggers into the backseat.

Feeling helpless was such a horrible emotion.

Takeda grudgingly opened the car door and let Sasuke crawl out of the back seat and trudge up the walk to his home. Corporal Takeda followed close behind and knocked on the door, setting a gentle hand on the boys' stiff shoulder. The door opened almost immediately and Takeda had to look down to see the young master of the house.

Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's older brother, was an older looking youth, with life and intelligence writ upon his lined face and calm, black eyes that matched Sasuke's. His black hair was long and pulled into a low pony-tail and his bangs framed his adolescent face. Sasuke and Itachi were definitely brothers.

And it made the man smile to see Itachi's cool, deep pools of onyx turn frightful and worried at the sight of his younger brother. It was nice to see that Itachi cared for Sasuke.

"Uchiha Itachi?" Takeda asked, just to be sure.

"Yes. Thanks for bringing Sasuke home. Our neighbours came over as well. They are waiting in the living room for you," Itachi's eyes deadened again as he looked up at the broad officer. Then he grabbed Sasuke's hand, pulled him inside and led the way to the living room before taking off up the stairs, little brother in tow.

"Ah... I'm Corporal Takeda from the Kaigen no Yume Police Department. Nice to meet you though I'm sorry it has to be under such sad circumstances..." he introduced himself politely, removing his hat and bowing respectfully, watching Itachi pull Sasuke into a room from the corner of his eye.

**...**

This is Chapter One of the fan fiction 'Growing Up With Dreams'

Written by TLC

Co-writer/editor/motivator is my lovely roommate – Bubblez

*¥ 5, 736, 194 is the equivalent to approx. $70,000

**Read and Review Please! **


	2. Snow Casts Shadows

**Growing Up With Dreams**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters. They belong to Misashi Kishimoto. As well, I do not own any of the characters from The Big Windup! They belong to Asa Higuchi.

**WARNING:** YAOI. Boyxboy. Don't like it, don't read it. As well, we have changed some of the characters from Naruto and Big Windup. Names and faces will remain the same but ages, personalities, occupations, etc will be altered. **THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING! **Also, a majority of the cities are real cities in Japan. The ones located on the Island, Yumenoshima, however, are fake. So the Island itself and the cities, Shi Yume, Kaigen no Yume, Chīsana Yume, and Nōmin no Yume and the Mountain, Hoshi No Miyama, etc, and anything else on the Island is fake.

**EXTREME DRAMA!**

**Chapter Two – Snow Casts Shadows**

"Naruto, you can't keep doing this! You know it's wrong!" Iruka tried desperately to reason with the blonde seven year old. It was close to February 14th and Naruto always acted out more so than usual this time of year. It had been two years now since his parents were killed and Naruto had turned from the sweet, innocent and caring child into the monster under his bed. It was constant trouble with this boy and Iruka, with very little parenting skills at his back, was reaching his breaking point. No matter what he tried with the boy, Naruto just wouldn't listen.

"I'll do what I want! It's not like anyone will stop me!" the boy yelled back, a dark fire lit behind those summer blue eyes.

"Naruto, _I'm _stopping you! It isn't nice to pull pranks on people! You have to stop, ok? If you keep this up I won't take you to the Sapporo Snow Festival," this was something Iruka knew wouldn't work. Naruto loved festivals but his school district always held their own festival for those who couldn't leave the island to get to Sapporo or Hokkaido. Things like this really made the poor Grade School teacher feel hopeless. He sincerely wished that Minato and Kushina hadn't passed away in that tunnel. Naruto never behaved like this when his parents were alive!

With a sigh, Iruka watched as Naruto ran to his room and slammed the door. Iruka really couldn't be mad with Minato and Kushina. They were murdered. They were cruelly punished for something they didn't do and now Naruto was being punished by being ripped away from his loving family. No, Iruka just couldn't be mad at all. He couldn't place blame on anyone.

He only wished he had someone here to help him deal with the stress of being a single, stand-in parent. He loved Naruto, he really did, but sometimes dealing with the hellion was more than the poor man could deal with. Iruka decided he needed to find a woman with child experience... or boot camp credentials to whip that boy into shape.

No... Iruka knew Naruto was hurting. Hurt was understandable; Iruka himself still hurt with the deep loss of his dear friends. But he knew Minato and Kushina would yell at him for not being patient with their son. He mentally apologized to them as he moved to the kitchen to make dinner for the two of them. Hurt... loss... confusion... all very painful things to feel, especially when you are only 7. Patience is something Iruka would conquer. He would learn and show all the patience he could... just for Naruto.

...

This wasn't fair at all. If even this little red-headed seven-year old could tell that this was unfair, then it was unfair. Even Gaara could tell when things were wrong but the only problem was; he didn't know what to do about it. He knew his parents never did this. His parents thought it was wrong too, to hit a child. They even taught him in school that hitting children was wrong and it was called 'abuse'. But he was sure that if he told anyone about it, nothing would happen. Orochimaru was a scary man and many social workers who had come to check on Gaara and his two older siblings were all shooed away without a second thought.

What could a boy do against his Guardian? The beatings happened often enough that Gaara was rarely seen without bruises or Band-Aids over the areas that were split open. Gaara did his best to deal with it but his fragile, developing body couldn't hold pain that well. Though nothing was as bad as that first time, but it still hurt.

And it got so confusing most days that Gaara just didn't know what to do with himself. It was bad enough getting pulled out of his school and away from the few friends he had made and put into a new school district. On good days, he was Orochimaru's' favourite. The man would shower the 7-year-old with praise and compliments and even bring the boy to his work to show him all the cool lab stuff he did. Gaara would feel overjoyed at the feeling of belonging. Then the next day it would all come crashing down and Orochimaru would be so upset that the second he stepped inside his home, he would scream for Gaara and Kankuro.

The boys eventually gave up fighting and hiding...

It was inevitable, their fate.

Now whenever they heard their name called, they would resign themselves to a heavy sigh and trudge their way down with their little feet making no noise on the stairs. Because Orochimaru always said 'Children are meant to be seen, not heard'.

Gaara had noticed though that Temari, his older sibling and oldest of the three, never got called. Not once had Temari ever been beaten or touched or yelled at... this frustrated Gaara and he often asked Kankuro about it. Kankuro would shrug his shoulders. He didn't understand any of this any more than Gaara did. How _would_ they understand it? It was a mental instability and a 7 year-old, an 11 year-old, and 15 year-old wouldn't know much about mental problems or what to do about them.

Maybe one day... one day when his sister, Temari, was old enough, she would take them away from here. Far away where he wouldn't have to endure the beatings. Where he wouldn't have to cry into Kankuro's lap and feel lost and hopeless; disconnected.

Even though Kankuro and Temari were there for him, he felt so alone. No one _really_ knew him and no one really cared. His teachers at school tried to connect with him and ask where his bruises came from. What was there to say? 'I fell down', 'I tripped', 'I was wrestling with my brother'?

There were only so many times you could use any excuse so eventually Gaara stopped answering the teachers. He stopped going to see the guidance counsellor at school, he even stopped talking to the kids in his grade. It was hard to talk to anybody when they just wouldn't understand or do anything about it. Gaara had a hard enough time just being in school. He kept getting strange looks and glances. He was the orphan being looked after by Orochimaru... Orochimaru was just about as popular and scary as the Royal Family and the Emperor.

And all Gaara could do was stay sane enough till Temari could take him away. It was the least she could do... she didn't get beaten, she didn't get yelled at, she got all the best grades, she had so many friends... she was the perfect one and Orochimaru didn't bother her... because Gaara and Kankuro couldn't measure up to her...

With a sigh, Gaara stood up from his small bed and opened his bedroom door to the angry knocking on the other side. Just looking at the sock covered feet, Gaara knew it was his Guardian. As he was flung a few feet back by a mean back-hand, he couldn't help but resent adults. Adults, men, women, people in general. Why would they do this and let this happen?

But when Gaara started resenting his parents for leaving him at the mercy of this biting snake Gaara shut down to find a happier place.

...

Sasuke was a smart kid. There was no doubt about it. He was the top of his class, best grades in the entire town. He didn't have any friends though not for lack of trying. Every time he thought he had a friend he could be close to, besides Naruto whom he rarely saw these days, he would bring them home only to find the next day they wanted nothing to do with him.

Sasuke was beginning to give up. Why wasn't he allowed to make friends? It was like he was cursed to be alone! First his parents leave him alone to grow up with Itachi and friends of his family. Then Naruto started backing off and accusing Sasuke of changing when Naruto was _clearly_ the one changing. Now no matter the friends Sasuke tried to make, they were leaving him left, right and center. There was something out there cursing Sasuke. He was sure of it.

And whenever the poor boy felt so confused and alone, he always went to his older brother. Itachi was constantly there for Sasuke. Always showed his support and always made time in his day to sit down and chat with Sasuke like he was the most important person in the world. This made Sasuke feel so much better some days. Knowing that _some_one cared for him, that _some_one wasn't giving up on him or leaving him to be completely alone.

Today was one of those days where he could really use Itachi's love. Sasuke had just fought with Naruto again, the only friend he really had that hadn't been scared away. So Sasuke sought out his older sibling, looking for someone to listen to him.

Sasuke found his 11-year-old brother in the small library upstairs, sitting comfortably in the large leather chair with his legs slung over the arm of the chair and a book in his lap. His black eyes moved seamlessly over the page as he eagerly read all the lines and processed the information. Something Sasuke greatly admired. Itachi was always so perfect, so good at everything he did. The boy was reading chapter books and novels by the time he was 6. He was always so far ahead and Sasuke liked that.

It was nice having such an intelligent older brother to rely on. In a way, it was infuriating though. Sasuke could never quite catch up with Itachi. He didn't reach all the milestones his brother did and was never as smart or logical and his teachers always compared him to his brother. They were big shoes to fill. But Sasuke didn't let it bother him too much. He thought it was a fantastic way to keep him on his toes and make himself better and stronger.

"Itachi?" Sasuke asked softly as he approached his silent brother. Those black eyes so much like his own moved fluidly from the paper to Sasuke.

"What is it, otouto?" Itachi replied with that smooth, patient voice that Sasuke had come to love. Sasuke scuffed his sock-covered foot against the carpet and hung his head so his black bangs hid his childish pout.

"Ani, may I sit with you?"

"Of course," Itachi pressed his bookmark between the pages and set it on the black table beside his chair before swinging his legs to the floor and moving over to make room for Sasuke. The boy smiled and crawled into the comfy leather chair next to his brother and leaned his head on the warm shoulder. "What's on your mind, Sasuke?" Itachi asked softly, wrapping his arm around his sibling and pulling him closer.

Sasuke closed his black eyes and sighed into the warmth of his brother before answering. "I fought with Naruto again today at school... he says I'm changing into a bad person and that I'm being stupid..." Sasuke refused to let hurt tears fall from his eyes. He didn't want Itachi to think little of him. But he pressed his cheek against his brothers' chest and took deep breaths to calm himself. He wasn't going to let Naruto get to him.

Itachi took a moment before saying anything, like he always did. "Do you think you are changing, Sasuke?"

Sasuke thought for a moment too. Was he changing? He knew that since his parents died, things definitely weren't the same but he wasn't sure if he had changed or not. "Do you think I have, Ani?"

Itachi smiled softly, a smile Sasuke knew was reserved only for him, and rubbed Sasuke's shoulder affectionately. "No matter what happens, Sasuke, I'll always love you for who you are."

The 7-year-olds' heart swelled with pride as he grinned up at his older brother. To him, only Itachi mattered. If Itachi loved him and never left him, everything was ok. Naruto was stupid anyway, what did _he_ know? The little monster was probably just jealous or something... stupid kid. Sasuke would show him! "Ani... read to me?"

Itachi smirked and leaned back in the chair, pulling Sasuke with him to rest on his chest and in his lap as he picked up his book and started reading it from the beginning. His voice, though young, was soft and sultry and Sasuke closed his eyes, listening to every lilt and pronunciation. He enjoyed Itachi's voice so much that he fell peacefully asleep to it. Nothing was as perfect as his Itachi. Nightmares and sadness didn't exist when he was with Itachi. Everything was ok...

...

"Ah! Sasuke-kun! How are you today? Feeling better after Naruto yesterday?" the bubblegum noise bounded up to Sasuke the next day in school. There was no describing the Uchiha's hatred for her. There was no describing the depths of his hatred for a lot of kids in his Grade School but he had to put up with them all. The fools. They were all useless, pathetic children. None of them could measure up to be as perfect as Itachi so why would they try?

"Yeah, I'm ok," he answered shortly as he took off his outdoor footwear and slipped on his school slippers. He headed quietly to his next class as the girl flitted about and chattered his ears off. He politely excused himself from her as he went into his first class of the day, ignoring the blonde boy sitting in the back.

Some friend _he_ was. What a joke! That kid wasn't even smart yet he was always in Sasuke's class. It might help, he supposed, to have his Guardian as one of the teachers here in the school. Iruka was a good teacher and Sasuke always enjoyed his classes. Sasuke felt sorry for the man for having to put up with Naruto's snotty, holier-than-thou attitude and his constant pranks and phone calls home.

Naruto always got a kick out of humiliating other people. What a jerk! Naruto was the stupid one... Sasuke huffed and turned away when he realized he had been staring at his childhood friend. The class was called to attention so Sasuke had no choice but to pay attention but there was a look on Naruto's face. A look of sadness, loss, that Sasuke didn't understand. What would make his friend sad?

'_You're being stupid, Sasuke! It's like you aren't even you anymore! I'm losing my Sasuke!'_

Naruto's tear stained face flashed into Sasuke's mind. Is that what Naruto was thinking about? Did he still think Sasuke had changed enough to make him feel like he was losing him? Sasuke swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and glanced back again at the bright eyed boy. Naruto was looking at him too. Sapphire met onyx. Sad met confused. Forgiving met lost.

Sasuke smiled.

Naruto smiled back.

...

"What's this?" the woman looked with hard amber eyes at the transfer script in her hands with contempt.

The School Board Rep frowned from his seat in front of her desk. "It's a transfer that we would like you to sign..."

"Yes, I can see that it's a transfer," she snapped, her blonde head moving up to glare at the business-suit-desk jockey, "I guess a more appropriate question would be 'Why the Hell is it here in my office' or 'What kind of drugs are you on?'" she spat. Despite the fact that he was a representative of the School Board and that they were her bosses, she still didn't take crap from any one. Today was no exception.

No one ordered Tsunade around! She would put those self-righteous, arrogant assholes in their place! Transfer! Hah!

"Well, Tsunade-San, as you know the Headmaster of Mihoshi High has retired. The School Board has big shoes to fill, trying to replace him and they felt that no one other than you could do it," he replied calmly, already knowing of Tsunade and her history of bad temper tantrums.

"I like teaching Elementary. I'm here for a reason," she growled, setting the transfer aside on her desk.

The School Board Rep cleared his throat, "Well, we understand that you are here on your request but you are needed elsewhere. The greater good outweighs personal preference, I'm afraid."

The glare she sent at him nearly made him fall out of his chair but he remained as calm as he could under her gaze as she silently fumed, "I hope you realize what you're doing... this is a mistake but I'll let you figure that out on your own," she growled out her dismissal.

Not wanting to push his luck, he stood, bowed respectfully and left her office. Hopefully, she would remember to sign the transfer. The man just really didn't want to go back for it...

...

Iruka sighed heavily when Tsunade phoned him that same day, telling him the news. It was upsetting to say the least. Tsunade has been at that Elementary for years and keeping an eye on Naruto for him. Now with her gone, it's only going to get out of hand. The new principle won't know how to handle Naruto at all and that was a big problem.

Tsunade apologized profusely, cursing the School Board all the while, and Iruka could do nothing but assure the woman that it was alright. There was nothing else to be done. This was something Naruto had to pull out of on his own really. If only the kid had more friends... that Sasuke boy was really dragging Naruto down but he was the only boy he ever talked about... Naruto wasn't interested in making any other friends other than the ones he had.

Naruto wasn't a lost cause... he was a lost boy. Tsunade had promised to do what she could for Naruto before she left but it didn't sound promising. Iruka supposed that only time would tell what would happen with his lost boy.

...

That weekend was the Snow Festival. While the main festival was held in Sapporo or Hokkaido on the main island, Yumenoshima had its own mini Snow festival in each of the cities. While each city had its own little festival, the best one was near Naruto's school because it was a huge area shared between Kaigen on the West Coast and Shi Yume, the big city. The two main cities on the island always combined their funds and put together a huge festival just outside Shi Yume.

And because his school was relatively between the two cities, Naruto could easily navigate his own way to the festival... without Iruka.

Naruto never took the trains so he took his bike outside when he knew Iruka was away for dinner. He rode his usual bike path that he took to school, following the memorized route. It wasn't too long before he passed his school and he grinned widely as he saw it was dark up on the hill with no lights or people inhabiting it.

He continued on the winding path, up and down the small rises, turning where necessary till he found the Festival lights. They weren't hard to find. Naruto stashed his bike where it wouldn't be stolen and slipped between the fences, sneaking his way past the Security patrolling the area. That was the hard part and it wasn't even all that hard.

Before he knew it, Naruto was strolling casually like he belonged through the throngs of crowds. The world didn't exist anymore...

The years he spent without his parents didn't exist anymore... the fights with Sasuke, the kids ridiculing him, teachers hating him, Iruka berating him... none of it was real. It was just the Festival of Snow and the thousands of people, the hundreds of booths, the performers, the dancers, the singers...

Handing over the few hundred yen he had, Naruto bought a dumpling skewer and munched happily as he walked without a care in the world. This was his world... the world he loved... so bright, free, airy, entertaining, filled with food and happy people.

Happy people. Happy couples. Happy families.

Naruto looked away from a family cheering on their son as he attempted to catch a fish with that stupid rice paper that dissolves in water.

He did that once...

There was a redheaded boy at a booth just in front of him that caught his attention. He must have been about the same age as Naruto but he was traveling booth to booth with a taller, dark haired boy and an older blonde girl. They looked like they were having so much fun together but that wasn't what caught Naruto's blue eyes.

It was the redhead. He looked _so_ familiar. But why? Naruto wasn't going to school with any redheads... he would remember if he met someone with hair like that. And eyes. That boy had the most beautiful sea foam green eyes Naruto had ever seen.

And they looked right at him.

Their eyes locked for a split second and recognition lit in those green eyes. Naruto started moving forward to talk to the boy, to ask where he had met him before.

Unfortunately, before he could take another step, Naruto was pushed to the ground and the redhead was swallowed by the crowd. Feeling unsatisfied, the blonde boy looked up to see who knocked him over only to find the smug look on that pale face he knew so well.

"Sasuke! That was mean!" Naruto pushed himself back up and brushed off his clothes.

"What are you doing here without supervision?" the young Uchiha asked with his arms crossed over his tiny chest.

"It's none of your business!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and shook his head, turning away. He didn't want to deal with Naruto's childishness. The kid would _never_ grow up!

"Don't walk away! What's wrong with you?" the offended Uzumaki grabbed the dark shirt of his best friend and pulled him back.

Only to get brushed off carelessly, "Don't touch me! You're dirty!"

"Sasuke... you used to be my best friend... you used to be so cool and fun... now look at you. You're acting like you own the world! Guess what Sasuke! The world doesn't revolve around you!" Naruto shouted at the disappearing Uchiha crest adorning the back of the dark blue shirt.

How he hated Sasuke...

With a heavy heart, Naruto left the Festival, not able to stand all the happy people and happy families moving about without a care in the world...

...


	3. Pursuit of Happiness

**Growing Up With Dreams**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters. They belong to Misashi Kishimoto. As well, I do not own any of the characters from The Big Windup! They belong to Asa Higuchi.

**WARNING:** YAOI. Boyxboy. Don't like it, don't read it. As well, we have changed some of the characters from Naruto and Big Windup. Names and faces will remain the same but ages, personalities, occupations, etc will be altered. **THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING! **Also, a majority of the cities are real cities in Japan. The ones located on the Island, Yumenoshima, however, are fake. So the Island itself and the cities, Shi Yume, Kaigen no Yume, Chīsana Yume, and Nōmin no Yume and the Mountain, Hoshi No Miyama, etc, and anything else on the Island is fake.

**EXTREME DRAMA!**

**Chapter Three –** **Pursuit of Happiness**

Finally. After five years, she could finally take her family away like she always wanted. Temari would finally have the ability to save her brothers from the freak they lived with. Her 18th birthday was coming up next month so she had this time to plan for a new apartment and a job and anything and everything they would need. Things would finally come together and she could protect her brothers they way she couldn't before.

Thank Kami for this day to finally come. It broke her heart to watch her brothers grow up the way they had. Poor little Gaara. She felt the worst for her youngest brother. A boy of only 6 pushed into a world of violence and crime. Gaara grew up thinking it was ok to be mean and take hope away from people because that's what Orochimaru did. Orochimaru took a liking to Gaara from the beginning and started to corrupt that innocent part of the boy. Now Gaara bullied others at school, hurt people, constantly got into trouble. It was at the point in time now that Gaara, now 10 ½, was reknown in all the elementary schools in the Kaigen No Yume Region as Shukaku, the One-Tail Demon.

There were so many rumors as to how he got this name and Temari wasn't even sure she really wanted to know. All she knew was that she wanted to help Gaara change back to the kid he used to be. Before the beatings, before the hate, before their parents death.

Temari owed her friend one too. Hidaka-San was such a nice person to let her start working in his lounge and live in the apartments above the lounge with her brothers. He had been one of the substitute teachers at her high school once and since then they had had a great student/teacher relationship. He understood her situation better than most people and instead of calling social services or the Police, he only offered his sympathy and advice. She loved him for it. Maybe even the Father figure she needed while growing up.

So here she was, packing her things and making phone calls to make sure things were still going to move smoothly. She couldn't wait to tell her brothers the big news. Temari knew Kankuro would be happy but she honestly didn't know how Gaara would react. He was a different boy. But maybe he would stop being the little terror in school. The Shukaku, whatever that was.

**...**

Hello, August 23! Temari's 18th birthday! She had been waiting for 30 years to turn 18. Today would be the day she could tell her brothers all about her secret plans to move out and be free from Orochimaru's hold. Today was going to go so well. The blonde had it all planned to a T. She would pack up the rest of their stuff, which wouldn't take long seeing as they really didn't own anything other than clothes, make a wonderful dinner, break the news, and have Hidaka-San pick them up and bring them to their new home.

The government was already preparing to send Welfare to assisst her in raising her broken family. Hidaka had already set up temporary furniture in their small 2 bedroom apartment. Temari almost couldn't stand it, she was so excited. Once she graduated from High school, she could work full-time in the lounge and save money to pay Hidaka for all he's done.

The newly-turned 18-year-old pulled on her favorite blue top and comfortable jeans before tying up her straight blonde hair into the usual hairstyle she liked. Looking at herself in the mirror, she noticed how her dark green eyes shimmered with excitement. Hope. Happiness. Things she hasn't felt in such a long time. Things she hasn't let herself feel in a long time.

Time to start working! Looking at the clock she smiled at the time. 10:30; she had enough time to do everything she wanted to today. Though, just as she set about working on the rest of the house, the home phone rang.

"Moshi moshi," she answered the phone cheerfully.

"Hai, is this Shikkari Temari?" the lady sounded upset and angry but Temari knew nothing could break her mood.

"Yes."

"Your younger brother, Gaara-kun, has broken school rules and gotten into a fist fight with the older students. We need you to come to the school to come pick him up."

Despite what she thought earlier, Temari's mood sank. Gaara fought at school. Wonderful. "Yes, I understand. I'll come get him."

With a sigh, she hung up and grabbed her sweater and keys before heading out the door_. Oh, Gaara, what shall I do with you?_

Getting to the school didn't take long and niether did finding the priciples office. Temari had been there enough times now that she could practically close her eyes and find her way there by heart. The receptionist showed her to the room needlessly and Temari sat straight backed in the uncomfortable wooden chair without looking at the little redhead sitting in the chair next to hers.

"Shikkari-San, thank you for coming. As you know, Gaara-Kun has fought in the school yard, picking a fight with our older students. This is the third time this year. We have been lenient with him so far but this is the last time we will over look his behavior. Shikkari-San, we have suspended Gaara-Kun for seven school days."

Temari listened without hearing. Inside, she was just disappointed that this had to happen on her day. Gaara wouldn't care about being suspended. It would have no effect on the impassive boy. Glancing over at him, she could already tell how bored and uncaring he was to his punishment. Why couldn't he just tell her what's going on? Why couldn't he admit to what was bothering him so she could help him out? Did he hate her that much?

"Yes, sir, I understand," she said calmly and quietly. Orochimaru wouldn't be happy to hear about this. A light lit behind her eyes. _No! No he won't. We are moving out later today! Screw Orochimaru. We are starting our new life today!_

Gaara stood and headed for the door, knowing the conversation had ended. Temari got up and followed, barely hiding her smile. She was upset, yes, but maybe telling Gaara and Kankuro the news would improve their moods. Maybe Gaara would be better and drop this silly fighting.

However, wishful thinking was often a downfall instead of an accomplishment.

The walk home was long. Talking to the near catatonic redhead was nearly impossible. He shut up so tight it was a wonder how the kid interacted with the world at all. Temari tried to stay patient with her little brother and keep her own temper in check. After all, it was her birthday today. She was feeling generous.

"You wanna tell me what happened?" she asked in a gentle voice.

Of course Gaara didn't answer. She didn't expect him to. But would it kill him to even say 'It was the other kids fault'? She didn't want to give up or impose herself on the boy but she was starting to feel kinda of hopless when trying to communicate with him. Actually, when she really thought about it, she had been feeling this way for a while.

No matter what she tried, he would never open up to her. It was extremely upsetting but she didn't really have a choice who her brother went to. As frustrating as it was, she was glad Gaara at least went to Kankuro to talk or at least just spent time with. He needed somebody to trust and open up to.

"You know, I have some great news for you later. We will wait until Kankuro gets home but I think it might make you happy."

Gaara remained expressionless as they entered their large home for maybe one of their last times. He stalked up to his room without so much as a word to his sister and locked himself away. _Fine_. _Be that way. _

Temari stayed in the kitchen till Kankuro got home from school. The 14-year-old middle brother came home with a grunt and dropped his bag on the ground before slouching into a chair.

"Hey," Temari said cheerfully, trying her best yet again.

"Yo."

"How was your day?"

"Fine."

"I have some news for you. Could you go get Gaara and bring him? I want to tell you both," she said with a smile, her green eyes closing. She was excited but nervous. How would they take it?

Without a word, Kankuro went upstairs to grab his little brother and brought him back down. They both sat in the kitchen silently and Temari was starting to notice a pattern. Silence was obviously a common thing in the household.

Taking a deep breath, she readied herself for the news. "I found an apartment and a job in southern Kaigen No Yume. We can move out today if you guys pack your things right after dinner," she set out the dishes in front of them on the table.

Silence.

"We're moving out? Without Orochimaru?" Kankuro finally asked.

Temari nodded, biting her lip in excitement.

Kankuro finally smiled and pushed his dinner aside to stand and hug his older sister. He was grateful, happy, and just as excited as Temari. She worked hard to do what she did and now she was finally taking them away from the place they hated most. She was finally protecting them.

Kankuro didn't bother eating dinner. He mumbled a happy birthday before running up to his room to pack his belongings. The sooner the better, right? Temari turned to Gaara to see his reaction but the boy was staring at his plate of untouched food.

Not for the first time, she wished she knew what he was thinking or feeling. What she wouldn't give to understand.

"Why are we leaving?" he asked, not blinking or moving.

Temari frowned but smiled and knelt on the floor beside her brothers chair. "We are leaving so I can protect you. So you don't have to put up with Orochimaru anymore. You can make friends at school and bring them home. Be a normal kid again," she explained patiently.

"You can't. We can't leave Orochimaru..." Gaara murmured. His little jaw was tight in held back anger and frustration.

"What do you mean, Gaara? Don't you want to leave? I know what Orochimaru does to you, don't you want to"

"You know what he does but you never did anything about it before! You don't understand what its like!" The angry 10 year old leapt off the chair and threw his plate of food on the floor, making a mess as his sister watched him sadly. "You could never understand! I'd rather be here than be with someone who doesn't know anything about me! At least Orochimaru doesn't pretend!"

Temari's green eyes, so filled with hope and happiness earlier, were sad and defeated. She remembered now why she didn't let herself feel those things before. The second she thought things were getting better, there was always something that shut her down. Silently she asked the universe what she had done so wrong to be treated like this. What could she have possible done to put her in these inconstant maelstroms? They say bad things come in threes. If that was so, she was _way_ past the three and was waiting rather impatiently for her up. Her break. Her happiness.

...

There was nothing more painful for a single parent than to have their child hate them. There was also nothing more painful than to raise a child that's not yours and have him tell you and remind you just how much you _aren't _his Dad. This is the pain that poor Umino Iruka had to go through, time and time again.

With Naruto it was just prank after prank. Vandalism, grafitti, knocking over trash cans, and just generally wreaking havoc. Nothing Iruka could say or do could influence or change Naruto's perception. And as Naruto got older, the pranks got more and more malicious and dangerous. Not only to himself but to the victims. Once, while trying to ask why Naruto did these things, the ten year old only said 'they look at me funny'.

How is that anything to go off of? Iruka wasn't a Psychologist. He could tell what this behaviour meant. He had tried asking for help on multiple occassions. Nothing good had ever come out of it. Naruto would act completely different and stress out the psychologist to the point where the Dr. Herself/himself would quit. Iruka was getting to the end of his rope. There wasn't much more he could do! He was running out of options.

Every day, he felt his strength draining a little more. His strength, his patience, his calm... Everyday, Iruka had to ask himself 'What would Minato do?'. Though sometimes that seemed like a silly question. What would Minato do? Ha! Minato wouldn't have been in this situation! Naruto, before the train crash, was a well behaved, polite, friendly and easy-going kid. Since the crash, it felt like Naruto bent over, did a total 360 and became Satan's rival! What could Iruka possibly do to rein in this impossible child?

"_Iruka-San?" _ the voice on the other end of the phone spoke up, shattering the teachers thoughts.

"Ah, yes, sorry. What were you saying, Tsunade-San?"

"_I said you should make him join a sports team. It would deffinately help release his aggresion and maybe calm him down if he can meet people other than the ones already familiar with his past,"_ Tsunade answered calmly. Smartly. What would Iruka do without this woman? She had saved him time and again. He was _so _thankful for her help through the years.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. What sport though?" He wasn't even sure himself what Naruto liked and didn't like. But the list of 'dislikes' was _a lot_ longer than the list of 'likes'.

"_Well, maybe take him to a few different high school games and see what he gets excited about?" _

"Thank you Tsunade-San, you're a big help!"

When their conversation ended, Iruka sighed and tried to put on his best 'I'm ready to face the world' face and waited patiently for Naruto to come home.

When said blonde haired boy showed up, covered in dirt and sand, Iruka first asked what Naruto had been up to that day. Not recieving a satisfactory response, he asked if Naruto played any pranks today. Again, not much of an answer. So Iruka tried again.

"Naruto, please look at me. I want to talk to you about"

"Forget it, Iruka! You're not my Dad! You can stop pretending to be better than everybody! I _hate it_ when you talk down to me. Like, you think I don't understand or something! Stop trying to be my Dad! Stop trying to be my friend! I'm tired of your questions, tired of living here, and tired of _you!" _the boy yelled and slammed his bedroom door in Iruka's face.

The man stood completely still for a moment. That was the meanest Naruto had ever been towards him. Usually it was just impatience... now it was hate... anger... as if Naruto despised the man who was looking after him...

Iruka closed his tired, chocolate brown eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose where his old scar stood. Was Iruka going to make it through this? Was it possible to make this work? Was Naruto beyond saving?

What would Minato and Kushina do?

With a tear filled sigh, Iruka trudged back to the kitchen and picked up the phone and hit redial.

...

The rest of the week didn't go any better for the poor blonde boy. That day, someone in the Middle School had beaten on Naruto that day and called him a monster.

Why would the boy say that? Naruto wasn't a bad person. At least, he didn't think so. What could he have possibly done to piss off a seventh grader? Most of his pranks were only pulled on his classmates.

Kicking a pebble down the sidewalk, Naruto walked with his hands shoved into his pockets and head down as he chewed his lip, a nervous habit of his, and contemplated what he did to that person. Monster? That wasn't a nice thing to call anybody. But he also had those eyes... those eyes that Naruto had almost gotten used to seeing as he grew up. He didn't notice them much when he was younger but now that he was ten, he knew. He noticed. Those eyes so filled with confusion, fear, nervousness... hate...

Naruto had seen them time and time again. He was the kid whose parents had died in that train wreck. He was the kid who pulled pranks. He was the kid who picked a fight, intentionally, with kids twice his age just to prove a point.

He was never Naruto. Just 'the kid'. Not even his classmates would call him by his last name out of respect like anyone else. It was 'Hey, You!'.

Not Naruto. Not even Uzumaki. He wasn't a person... no one could even acknowledge the fact that he was just a troubled kid with no where to go. He was up against a wall. Pressed against a cold, unfeeling wall by his whirlpool of emotions.

And those eyes.

He hated those eyes. He wanted them to look at him like a normal person, not just some freak. What did he have to do to get that?

"Oi! Watch where you're going, dumbass!"

Naruto stumbled back and caught himself before he fell. He knew that voice though. He didn't even need to look up to see who it was. How could you forget the voice of your best friend? How could you forget the voice of the person who hurt you the most?

"Shut up, Sasuke. Just get out of my way," Naruto mumbled and tried to push past Sasuke and the other guy Sasuke was with. The new guy grabbed Naruto though and yanked him back hard enough that Naruto fell back on his bum.

"Don't talk to Sasuke like that, freak!"

Glaring up at the new guy, he noticed that the boy looked a little older than Sasuke. He had white hair, even stranger than Naruto's natural blonde hair, and very violet eyes.

"Who're you calling freak, weirdo? You're the one with pointy teeth!" Naruto retorted back as he pulled himself to his feet. Indeed, the new guy had teeth that looked they were filed to points. What kind of person would do that to their teeth?

"Shut it, shrimp. I'm Hōzuki Suigetsu and you better not forget it!" the white haired boy announced proudly. He grinned like a predator. Naruto didn't like him one bit.

"I don't care if you're the Emperor himself! You're in my way!" Naruto growled, feeling his body tense up from the very bad vibe he was getting from Sasuke and this Suigetsu kid. Suigetsu shoved Naruto back a step, getting in the smaller boys face with an arrogant sneer.

What was going on? Naruto just didn't understand. He and Sasuke used to be the best of friends for years. Granted, since their parents died, they had fallen apart but they had always come back together in the end. But now it felt like Sasuke was replacing him; like he found a replacement for Naruto's friendship and companionship. Was Sasuke gonna stop being friends with him? What had Naruto done wrong?

"Sasuke, get your dog out of my face!" Naruto growled darkly, feeling threatened as he went nose to nose with Suigetsu.

This time Sasuke shoved Naruto back hard enough to make him stumble back onto his ass again. Naruto lost it then. Out of hurt, confusion, jealousy, and every other thing that the 10 year old couldn't name, he leapt to his feet and lunged at the black haired boy. And he didn't stop at slamming him to the ground; he sat over his stomach and started pummeling in that pretty face he had come to hate. Hitting Sasuke with tears in his eyes. Hitting and yelling things he wouldn't remember later. Sounds started to blur together, smells were overwhelming and Naruto started seeing tunnel vision. He could only see Sasuke underneath him, bleeding and crying, trying to curl up and cover his face.

Naruto would have kept going too; it felt good to relieve his frustrations and anger after having them pent up for so long; if not for Suigetsu and the group of kids who were yelling and trying to get him to stop. A pair of painfully strong hands gripped Naruto's shoulders and wrenched him free of Sasuke and turned so Naruto couldn't see Sasuke or Suigetsu anymore.

He was panting and sobbing but wasn't coherent enough to understand what was being said to him. His heart was pounding violently in his chest as he was led away.

"...uto! Naru... at happened? ... Why did..." the voice faded in and out. Naruto looked down at his small, balled up fists covered in slick blood. Sasuke's blood. His blue eyes flicked up to look at the adult kneeling in front of him. It was his Japanese teacher. His mind snapped back into place for a moment, just long enough to realize what was being said. "Naruto! Naruto, what happened here? Why were you hitting Sasuke?"

Naruto started shaking violently as the adrenaline coursed through his little body. "He... was leaving me..." he mumbled, his eyes flicking back down to his throbbing fists. The teacher started speaking to him again, trying to ask more questions but Naruto was beyond reason and intelligible thought. There was no point in talking to the blonde.

There was no point. Because Naruto didn't even know what to do with himself. He had lost everybody important to him. First his parents, Iruka hated him, and now Sasuke, his one and only true friend had chosen some pointy toothed freak over him. There was nothing left for him. Nothing for him to look forward to. Nothing left to take his mind off the hurt of the past.

Was there nothing but suffering for the blonde? Was there no happiness to be found?

Naruto didn't think so.

...

"Naruto, I know you're going to like it so stop pouting!" Iruka reprimanded for about the 15th time that day.

"Iruuukaaaa... I don't _wanna_ go to a boring baseball game. Baseball is such a weak sport!" the 11 year old pouted as he fingered the thick bandages taped over his cheeks. They were itching like crazy. He figured he was being punished for having Iruka panic and take him to the hospital. Not to mention the fight he had gotten into with Sasuke that got him suspended from school for a month. That was months ago though.

"Stop picking at them. And baseball is not a weak sport. It's very physically and mentally exhausting for the players. It's, perhaps, not as exciting as hockey or football, but it has its own form of excitement. Just give it a shot," Iruka patiently explained as they pulled into the parking lot.

Naruto sighed in resignation as he hopped out of the car and followed Iruka out to the baseball diamond and the stands. After grabbing some snacks from the consession stand, the pair made their way up the bleachers and picked a spot where they could see the whole field. As they were settling down, a bright eyed girl with silver hair dressed in the baseball uniform came bounding up with a big smile on her angled face.

"Hi! You're Naruto-kun, right?" she asked, seeming very casual. It caught both Naruto and Iruka off guard but the blonde nodded. The girl turned and waved a boy over, calling, "I _told_ you it was Naruto! I _told _you I recognized him, Dai!"

Iruka put a warm smile on and inquired as to how the girl knew Naruto as a boy with light forest green hair and muddy brown eyes approached with a shy smile. The silver haired girl turned her bright green eyes to Iruka. "Me and Dai met him while he was staying with Gramma Tsunade _forever _ago!" she said excitedly. "He was so cute! All smiles and sunshine and our bestest friend even though it was only a few days. But then he never came back to Gramma Tsunade's so we thought we'd _never_ see him! But I would remember that yellow hair and blue eyes anywhere!" she grinned widely and reached over to ruffle Naruto's hair affectionately.

Naruto blinked in confusion. He didn't remember these two at all. You'd think he would seeing as who in Japan would have silver or green hair? _Natural _silver and green hair none-the-less. But they honestly did not stir a memory in his mind. Curious. He looked at the green haired boy and smiled politely. "What's your guys' names?"

The green haired boy grinned sheepishly, scratched the bandaid that spanned the bridge of his nose, and answered politely, "I'm Kazumi Daisuke and this trouble maker is Izumi Ryder. Sorry for the rude introduction; I couldn't exactly stop her..." he grimaces while rubbing his right shoulder.

Iruka smiled warmly, "It's alright. I'm glad you two remembered Naruto. Are you both a part of this Minor League game?"

Izumi nodded, her short silver hair rustling with her movement. "Well I've been in baseball for 6 years but Dai has been in it since he was _born_," the 11-year-old giggled. Naruto smiled. He kinda liked Izumi-chan and Kazumi-kun. They seemed like friendly people. He kind of started feeling guilty for not remembering them.

A distant chime sounded, announcing the start of the game. Izumi and Kazumi jumped and said hurried good-byes before taking off to thier dug-out. Naruto had to laugh as Izumi shoved Kazumi off his feet and took off laughing. Poor Kazumi hauled himself to his feet and took off after her, calling her names as they disappeared from sight.

Naruto could tell he liked baseball already. As he watched the game, he cheered for their team and got more and more excited as the game went on. Though, he didn't quite understand how the game itself went or what happened to make the umpire call fouls or balls. So he asked Iruka. As the game went on, Iruka became more and more relaxed and happy. It made him happy to see Naruto getting so excited. It made him happy to see the darkness, that had become so common in Naruto's eyes and demeanor, fade away to nothing.

He was sure this would help Naruto. Mentally, Iruka thanked Tsunade for thinking of bringing Naruto to a game.

At the end of the game, Naruto and Iruka waited for Izumi and Kazumi. The pair finally emerged, covered in sweat and dirt. They looked ragged and worn out but so happy. Not just for the simple fact that they won the game but because they had just played and had fun. Naruto suddenly felt envious; he wanted to play too.

"Izumi-chan, that was great!" Naruto exclaimed as he bounded over to them, a huge smile on his bandaged face.

Izumi stopped talking mid-sentance, a look of malice crossing her features as Kazumi paled. The girl turned to look at Naruto, a glare in her bright green eyes but a sweet smile on her face. "What did you just call me?" her voice was rot-your-teeth sweet. Scary...

Kazumi laughed nervously and instantly put himself between Naruto and Izumi, his hands up defensively, "He doesn't remember us, Ryder! You can't get mad at him for calling you that!"

Izumi shoved Kazumi out of the way and advanced on poor, unsuspecting Naruto. "What did you call me?" she asked again. Her hands closed into tight, tiny little fists, shaking with fury.

Feeling threatened, Naruto backed up, eyes wide. "Uh...Izumi-chan?"

"NO!" Kazumi threw himself in the way as Izumi raised her fist to hit Naruto. Kazumi went down with a dull thud and a groan. Kazumi rolled around, clutching his head in pain. "That's it! I'm done! I see a light... I can't go on... go on without me..." he moaned.

With a snort of amusement, Izumi placed her hands on her hips, "Fine, I'll eat your cinnamon roll at Aunty Shizune's."

Kazumi shot up from the ground, "No! I _earned_ that cinnomon roll, you didn't!" Izumi grinned and shoved Kazumi over again.

"So uhm..." Naruto stood there awkwardly, not sure what the _hell_ just happened.

"Ah, Ryder _hates _it when people call her 'chan'," then Kazumi leaned over and whispered in Naruto's ear, "she doesn't want to admit she's a girl. So we just call her Ryder, Izumi or Izumi-kun. To make her feel better... she has a _mean_ punch..." as if remembering, Kazumi rubbed his right shoulder again.

Iruka butted in finally. He had to berate himself for not catching on sooner but when Izumi had mentioned Shizune's name, the lightbulb finally pinged in his head. "You two know Tsunade-san and Shizune-san?"

Izumi and Kazumi both turned and agreed in unison. "Yup! She's our neighbour." Iruka frowned. He didn't recall Tsunade ever mentioning these kids. And they talked about her like she was family. That struck Iruka as strange but in a way it made sense. Back then, Naruto's parents were still alive. Minato and Kushina probably knew these kids.

"Gramma Tsunade is the coolest! And Aunty Shizune makes the _greatest_ cinnamon rolls _ever_," Izumi smiled.

A car horn honked so the group looked over. A silver van was parked with a logo painted on the side of Nemui Inn. On the end of Nemui was a Sakura flower surrounded by flittering petals. Neither Iruka nor Naruto recognized the logo or the name but Kazumi and Izumi did.

"Ah, it's my Dad! Ready to go, Ryder?" Kazumi asked as he started heading towards the van. Izumi nodded.

Before they got in the van though, Naruto ran up and asked for their numbers. He had realized during the game and after that these kids were the type of people he wanted to surround himself with. They didn't know of his past, they didn't think of him as a prankster or a monster. They wouldn't be able to judge him or look down on him. And seeing their passion and energy on the field just inspired him. Already he felt a little less out-of-place.

When they gave him their numbers and crawled into the van, Naruto ran back to Iruka with the biggest smile on his little face. It literally lit up the air around him. It had been so long since Iruka had seen that boy smile...

Already doing mental calculations in his head, Iruka deemed he could afford to put Naruto on his school's baseball team. Granted money would be tight for a while, but it would be worth taking Naruto out of his shell and making him a better person. One baseball game at a time...

...

Earlier that day, Izumi Ryder and Kazumi Daisuke raced home. School was over but their baseball game was gonna start soon and they had very little time to get home and get their things ready. So they could be found racing each other down the street, holding tight to their backpacks.

Excitement coursed through them as they pounded down the pavement. "We are _so_ going to win today!" Ryder panted, a big smile on her face. Daisuke only grinned back in agreeance. It was the first game of the season for their team. It felt wonderful to be able to get out and play the great game again.

As they rounded the corner, they passed Aunty Shizune's house. She was just getting out of her little purple car as they stormed by. "Hey!" she called to them. The pair came to a screeching halt and back tracked to stand in front of her. Her hair was up in a pony-tail today. "How did those tests go today?" she asked warmly as she bent over to pull groceries from her back seat.

"Great!" Daisuke pulled his test out first and handed it over proudly. "I got 100% and a gold star!"

Shizune took it with a huge smile, "I expected no less from you, Daisuke-kun. Well done! How about you, Ryder-kun?"

Ryder pouted and hesitantly handed over her test. Shizune took it and looked at the mark circled in the corner. 75%. "That's not bad at all, Ryder-kun! Good job!" she encouraged.

"It's not enough for a gold star!" she glared at Daisuke with her fresh-cut-grass green eyes.

Daisuke stood with a smug smile while Shizune handed back their tests, "You don't need a gold star to show how hard you're working. You're trying and that's all anyone can ask."

Ryder pouted more and mumbled under her breath, "Well Daisuke doesn't have to work for _his_..."

"Now, now, you both did a great job. How about, when you get home from the big game, I'll have some cinnamon rolls ready for you?" Shizune suggested as she walked up to the front door of her house.

Ryder grinned widely but Daisuke dropped his backpack and jumped in the air with his excitement. "YES!" he screamed, pumping his fist in the air.

"Better hurry before you're late!" Shizune called to them. The two snapped back to attention and took off running again, heading for home. They got to Daisuke's house quickly and threw their backpacks in a corner before tearing up the stairs to his bedroom.

Ryder had long since started hiding her equipment and uniform at Daisuke's due to her family upbringing. Her Father, Atsushi, was extremely strict and traditional when it came to raising his kids. Ryder was supposed to be the little lady of the family seeing as her two older brothers, Kio and Ryuzaki, were to take on the business world. Atsushi, and her mother Nori, pushed Ryder to dress and act like a girl. To sit prim and proper, to make meals, to clean and sew and raise children. Ryder was subjugated to this torment daily. Her only out was baseball.

Since she met Daisuke, back when they were 5, he had gotten her into it and they had become inseparable since. And Daisuke and his family understood her situation and allowed her to stash her things with Daisuke.

Daisuke threw his uniform on and grabbed his duffle bag and Ryder did the same, getting more and more excited as the mintues ticked by. "Kids, lets go!" Daisuke's dad, Ko, called from downstairs. The duo thundered back down the stairs and sprinted for the front door with wild enthusiasm.

"We gotta win, we gotta win, we gotta win," Daisuke chanted as he threw himself into his Dad's silver van.

Ryder laughed, "Why are you so into it?"

Daisuke turned his muddy brown eyes with wide disbelief. "There are cinnamon rolls on the line, Ryder! We _have_ to win!"

Ko laughed as he started towards the baseball diamonds. By the time he got there, the two were arguing so fiercely that he had to pull them out of the van before they would move on their own. They settled down fairly quickly though once they saw the field and the dugouts. Excitedly, Ryder looked around the bleachers to see the turn out for the first big game of their Minor League. She saw a small group of High Schoolers just skipping class, a few proud parents waving and cheering and a man with a scar spanning the bridge of his nose much like Daisuke's sitting with a cute little blonde haired boy with bandages taped to his cheeks.

She stared at him for a moment longer until it finally clicked. She punched Daisuke's right shoulder, sending him flying, "Daisuke! Dai, Dai, Dai, Dai! Oh my God is that Naruto?" she tugged his shirt and hauled him to his feet, pointing at the blonde boy. "It's _totally_ Naruto, isn't it, Dai?"

Rubbing his shoulder with a grimace, he looked to where she was pointing. Indeed, the blonde kid looked a lot like the boy they used to play with but what was with those bandages?

Ryder noticed him rubbing his shoulder and looked at him apologetically, "Sorry... I keep forgetting sometimes..."

Daisuke shrugged it off, "It's ok. But I don't know for sure if that's Naruto-kun. It's hard to tell because it's been so long."

Not really paying attention, Ryder took off towards the bleachers and towards the familiar boy. Daisuke slowly made his way over, shaking his head at Ryder's eagerness. She sure could be a kid at times. He watched as she started to talk to him and felt a surge of embarrassment as she called back to him confirming that it was in fact Naruto-kun. Then the man Naruto was with asked politely how they knew Naruto.

Daisuke shyly came up behind Ryder and listened as she told the story with her usual exaggerations. He flushed with slight shame though when she reached over and ruffled Naruto-kun's hair. How rude! Daisuke apologized, "I'm Kazumi Daisuke and this trouble maker is Izumi Ryder. Sorry for the rude introduction; I couldn't exactly stop her..." he grimaces while rubbing his right shoulder. He noticed her look of apology again and chose to ignore it as Iruka-San assured the pair it was alright.

The four of them talked for a short while longer before the bell for the game went off. As Daisuke and Ryder made to leave, Ryder shoved him over in her excitement and took off laughing. Already in pain, he hauled himself to his feet and chased after her, calling her a sissy and a priss; names she hated more than anything.

With the clamour from finding their long lost friend, Daisuke and Ryder found it extremely easy to play the game. They were more in sync during the game than usual and it worked in their favour. They won the game 5-2. Sweaty, dirty, sore, and exhausted, the pair still had more energy than usual knowing that Naruto would be there waiting when they got out.

And he was.

...

**Ok so I FINALLY completed chapter 3. THIS WAS A LOT OF WORK! Might I just say that it's TWICE AS LONG as the other chapters? BE HAPPY!**

**Anyways... I hope you guys all enjoy it as much as I did. I can't wait to start getting into the good stuff!**

**Please keep reading, faithful fans, and I hope you approve of how it unfolds. **

**Written by TLC**

**Specially brought to you by COFFEE and my motivator/editor/pain-in-the-ass/ brother/ butt-face – Bubbles. SAY THANK YOU TO BUBBLES! This chapter would not be out without his help! **

**Anyways...**

**R&R please! I wanna know what you think! **

**Love you all,**

**TLC**


	4. The Tides of Change

**Growing Up With Dreams**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters. They belong to Misashi Kishimoto. As well, I do not own any of the characters from The Big Windup! They belong to Asa Higuchi.

**WARNING:** YAOI. Boyxboy. Don't like it, don't read it. As well, we have changed some of the characters from Naruto and Big Windup. Names and faces will remain the same but ages, personalities, occupations, etc will be altered. **THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING! **Also, a majority of the cities are real cities in Japan. The ones located on the Island, Yumenoshima, however, are fake. So the Island itself and the cities, Shi Yume, Kaigen no Yume, Chīsana Yume, and Nōmin no Yume and the Mountain, Hoshi No Miyama, etc, and anything else on the Island is fake.

**EXTREME DRAMA!**

**Chapter Four – The Tides of Change**

It's kind of amazing, how fast time can go by. It was a year ago when Iruka brought Naruto to watch his first Minor League game. Only a year ago when he was such a problem child and nothing seemed possible. 12 months later, Naruto had done a 180 and become a normal child again. All thanks to baseball. If it weren't for baseball and friends who actually liked Naruto, he would still be stuck on that downward destructive spiral.

The scars on his cheeks had healed since then. He no longer hid them underneath bandages. People definitely had asked what happened to them since the scars weren't white. They were thin, black lines, 3 on each cheek. Naruto never spoke about how he got them. Not even when Daisuke and Ryder had asked about them. He kept his mouth sealed and he was ok with it. He didn't want people to know what was going on.

So people just stared at him. Giving him accusing looks but he was used to that.

And here he was, a year later, with 2 of the greatest friends he could ask for, getting better grades in school, no longer _too_ much of a trouble maker. Well, he still liked to cause trouble now and again but not as often or as horrible as it used to be.

He was a happy sixth grader. He strutted through town, making his way to the baseball fields where he liked to meet up with Ryder and Daisuke on days off. Today was one such day but Daisuke had said he was really busy and couldn't come today. That left Ryder and Naruto alone but they were ok with that. Ryder was so close to being a guy that it wasn't hard to like her.

Mounting the crest of the hill, Naruto fingered his scars and stared down at the empty diamonds. Beautiful. The mound, the plates, the mowed outfield, it spoke soft, inviting words of freedom to his heart. He joyfully made his way to Field 3, where they always met up together.

But as he got closer, Naruto noticed there was someone already there who didn't look like Ryder. The person had black, spiky hair instead of short silver curls and wore dark blue and black clothes instead of jeans and a t-shirt. With a snarl, Naruto realized it was Sasuke, sitting at his favorite field. Since Naruto had bashed his face in last year, they hadn't spoken to each other. Naruto was fine with that because that meant Sasuke and his fag friend, Suigetsu, wasn't picking on him anymore.

So what did the prick want here?

The 12-year-old blonde made his way over to the statuesque Uchiha. "What are you doing here, Sasuke?" he demanded. Leave it to Sasuke to ruin the great day that he had been having.

Sasuke turned to Naruto and smirked, "Just came to scout out the area for the best place to sit and watch you make fools of yourselves at the big game," he remarked.

"Get lost, Sasuke. Stick to the gym where your only talent is," Naruto snapped. Baseball was still a touchy subject for Naruto. He was still new at it. Granted, this would be the first game of the season, but Naruto would be damned if they lost. Sasuke needed to stay in the gym and play basketball and keep his pointy, arrogant nose out of Naruto's life!

"Calm down, freak. I'm sure there will be more than just me out here to watch you mess up. Iruka, for example," Sasuke hissed. That one hurt. Naruto knew how much he had hurt and pushed Iruka but that was between the man and him. Sasuke had _no_ business saying that.

"Careful, pretty boy. We don't want another accident like last year. How long did it take for the swelling to go down? 2 weeks? I beat you pretty bad... and there are no teachers or adults out here to stop me this time," Naruto threatened. If he didn't know any better, the blonde would say he was a dog with his hackles raised.

Sasuke's smirk disappeared for a moment and his eyes flashed with fear, a look Naruto had become uncomfortably familiar with. The smirk returned quickly enough. "So you really are a monster, hey Naruto?"

The words stung. They hurt. They dug deep and burned like salt in an open wound. How _dare_ he? How dare he say that so casually? How dare he use that tone; mocking and contempt? Was that what everyone thought of the boy? Is that how everyone viewed Naruto? Sasuke may be a perfect A, teacher's pet type of student but he was really no better than Naruto. Naruto was a mischief maker and an attention getter but Sasuke was far, far worse. The Uchiha got off on hurting others. Besting others and degrading and pushing them down, adding insult to injury and enjoying the suffering.

Sasuke was evil.

"Watch it, Uchiha," Naruto ground out, feeling his hands clench into fists.

"Did I strike a nerve in that dark heart of yours?"

"I said _watch it_, Uchiha... you've got a black heart... you have _no_ heart you bastard!"

"Funny, that doesn't usually bother demons like you."

Naruto couldn't really remember much after that. He knew he went berserk and tried to beat Sasuke and, for the first while, he was succeeding. But Sasuke must have learned how to fight because next thing the little blondie knew, his ass was handed to him and he wound up on the ground unconscious.

...

Sasuke walked away victorious and proud. While he had to admit that Naruto had caught him by surprise at first, it didn't take the Uchiha long to switch into his protective mode. Thanks to his brother teaching him martial arts, Sasuke was able to kick Naruto down fairly quickly.

The only downside was that Naruto's little girlfriend was there and stopped Sasuke from beating Naruto to within an inch of his life. Sasuke wanted to. He wanted to show Naruto how much it hurt. Last year was the last time Naruto would _ever_ get the upper hand on him! This year was pay back.

Let the silver haired girl fawn over the little demon. He needed _someone_ to love his awful personality and his disfigured face. She had run up behind Sasuke and, with surprising strength, flung Sasuke away from the unconscious monster and screamed at him to leave so Sasuke did.

Hands in pockets, the prideful Uchiha walked away. He heard her call her other boyfriend before calling for an ambulance.

Sasuke felt he didn't need to stay for all the emotional bull crap that was going to come. He was above that. So was Itachi. Sasuke wanted to be just as perfect as Itachi. Who wouldn't want to be as perfect as Itachi?

Naruto... Naruto could never be Itachi. Naruto would never understand what it took to be like him... Sasuke couldn't be associated with someone who couldn't measure up to him...

No... Naruto had to go...

...

"Daisuke! Oh Gods, Daisuke, please, I know you're with your family at the Inn right now but Naruto's unconscious and bleeding and I can't... please meet me at the Hospital!" Ryder sobbed into her cell phone as she cradled Naruto's head in her lap. His nose looked broken, blood poured from a cut on his forehead and his nose. His lips were split, his eyes swollen and Gods knew what was wrong with the rest of him. Sasuke had gotten him good...

"_Dammit, Ryder...Who did this?" _Daisuke's voice sounded annoyed and panicked.

"Uchiha! Do you even have to ask? He's had it out for Naruto since Naruto beat him last year... Daisuke please..."

"_Ok, ok, I'm on my way, hold tight."_

The call ended and she tried her best to stop the bleeding with her jacket as she waited for the paramedics to show up.

"Naruto... Naruto, hey, if you can hear me I want you to know that help is coming..."

Of course the boy didn't respond and Ryder wiped her tears on her arm. Her bright green eyes burned but she wouldn't look away from him. No. She wasn't going to let him slip from her.

"You hold on, now, ok? I'm here, Naru-chan," she tried hard to stop crying and make her voice as comforting as she could. Help couldn't come soon enough! Why weren't they faster? She could hear the sirens faintly in the distance but 1 minute felt like 4 years to the panic stricken 12-year-old girl.

...

"He should wake up soon, don't worry. I'm so glad you were there to get him to the hospital though, Ryder..." the male voice was very familiar to his muffled ears.

"Sasuke really did a number on him... I can't believe that _jerk!_" a girl's voice answered.

"You're positive it was Uchiha?" a boy's voice asked.

So tired... why are they talking so loud?

"Yes, I'm positive! I shoved Sasuke off of him and he just walked away with his hands in his pockets and a stupid smirk on his stupid ugly face!" the girl cried in exasperation. So loud...

Naruto moaned and turned his head away from the sound. He hurt. He had felt worse but still... he hurt. The physical pain was great but his emotional pain was worse. As he slowly woke up, he remembered what happened. He remembered all too clearly the Uchiha at the fields, the taunting and name calling, the fight... Naruto sighed and opened his sad blue eyes. Sasuke and Naruto hadn't been friends for a long time but that was crossing the line. That really was it. There was no saving their friendship. There were no Band-Aid solutions to fix this wound.

"He's waking up. Hey, Naruto, can you hear me? How are you feeling?" the man's voice belonged to Iruka. Naruto looked at him with foggy eyes and nodded solemnly. "Hey, buddy... we were worried about you..." Iruka's voice was soft and gentle instead of reprimanding and scornful. Naruto appreciated that.

"Sorry," the boy croaked, his throat sore. Iruka handed him a glass of water from the table beside Naruto's bed. Naruto forced his aching body to sit up and he drank gratefully.

"Are you ok, Naru-chan?" Ryder asked, her short silver hair a wild mess around her face. Her bright green eyes were wide and wondering.

Naruto managed a weak smile and nodded. "I'm ok, Ryder... thanks... and thanks for bringing me here," he murmured. The blonde glanced around his hospital room for the first time and saw nothing new that really interested him. His nose itched and he reached up to scratch and yelped as he touched it. It was incredibly tender and sore and there were bandages across it to hold his cuts closed. "Oooowwww..." he moaned.

"Yeah, Sasuke really did a number on your nose. I think he broke it but that's the only thing he managed to break. The doctor said everything else was fine," the boys' voice rang out and Naruto looked around. He located the area where the voice came from but he saw no boy. He saw a really cute girl dressed in a pretty, traditional kimono.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, suddenly quite intrigued by the cute girl by the door. His head tilted cutely to the side, his golden mop of hair flopping with the movement.

Ryder giggled and looked at the girl. "Naruto, that's Daisuke."

Naruto frowned deeply and looked over the girl. She had longer hair than Daisuke but it was the same forest green. She was wearing cute, square framed glasses but had the same muddy brown eyes. But there was no bandage on her nose like Daisuke usually had so Naruto could see the scar only a little under the nose piece of the glasses.

Daisuke, feeling very uncomfortable, blushed and squirmed under Naruto's gaze. "I was working at the Inn when Ryder called... I didn't have time to change..." he explained. Naruto blinked, blinked again, opened his mouth to say something, closed it, and blinked again.

"What...?" he finally said.

Ryder burst into hysterics and Iruka was smiling but said nothing as he watched the scene unfold. Daisuke squirmed even more, his face growing brighter by the second. "I work at my family's Inn, Nemui Inn and its run by my Mom and Sisters but sometimes they need help..."

"So you dress like a _girl?_" Naruto asked, completely disbelieving.

Ryder's laughter doubled and Iruka sniggered before composing himself again. "Well... the Inn is only run by females..." Daisuke explained rather uncomfortably.

"So...your Mom dresses you like a girl?"

Ryder was crying and doubled over on the floor. Iruka looked out the window, trying desperately not to laugh.

"Well... yes... Mom says I look good as a girl and that customers feel more comfortable around women so... Mom and Saiya, my older sister, dress me up and I help around the Inn..." Daisuke looked like he would _really_ rather be somewhere else. Even back at the Inn surrounded by gawking males and crooning females than explain why he dressed like a girl to Naruto... it was his dark secret and only Ryder and his family had known about it but now... he only hoped Naruto wouldn't tell anyone.

"Ok... so... does that mean you have another name too? For the Inn?" the blonde questioned. Ryder had finally stopped howling with laughter and had crawled up from the floor. She was reduced to small fits of giggles. Iruka's face was a little red from his strain of fighting back his own laughter.

Daisuke went a shade darker. "Actually, yeah... It's D-Delilah..." his voice cracked and squeaked a bit with girlish tremor.

"An American name?"

"Yes... Saiya picked it out... said it was exotic and intriguing..."

"Cool... so uh... I guess you don't want me to say anything," Naruto smirked and looked 'Delilah' up and down again, relishing this moment of knowledge and blackmail.

"Please don't," Daisuke whimpered and looked away.

"Ok, I promise I won't say anything," Naruto smiled, his blue eyes closing, a big grin spreading across his pink lips. Iruka patted his head affectionately.

"You ready to go home?" the man asked.

Naruto nodded. Though he requested that Ryder come home with him to keep him company. Of course Iruka never said no. He also offered to give Daisuke a ride back to Nemui Inn to continue working and Daisuke regretfully took the offer.

...

During the spring break, a month or so after, Ryder and her family were planning to take a trip out of the city to see some family. Because of where their family was located, it was close to Daisuke's family Inn so she invited Naruto to go on the little day trip so he could see for himself where Daisuke worked.

Of course, Naruto was super excited about seeing Daisuke in full costume again. He wanted to see 'Delilah' at work and keep those mental images, and maybe some real photos, for himself. The weekend came and Ryder and Naruto packed into the Izumi family car with her 2 older brothers Kio and Ryuzaki.

A half hour later they came up to the Nemui Inn and Ryder and Naruto jumped out. "We'll be back in a few hours, sweetie, so stay out of trouble!" Atsushi, Ryder's father called.

Naruto sniggered, knowing that her father had no idea Ryder really wasn't the perfect little girl he thought she was. "Ok Daddy!" she called back in her fake, sing-song voice. The second the family car was out of sight, Ryder sighed, rolled her eyes, dug in her backpack and pulled out her t-shirt and boy-shorts to change into. She really hated the dress she was in.

They strode into the Inn which was bustling and loud with people in the lobby. Ryder ran to the bathroom to change and Naruto stood by the wall to wait, looking around. A pretty teenager was standing in the front greeting customers. She had forest green hair like Daisuke but it was lighter and tied back into a long braid down her back. Her stormy grey eyes were framed with black eye liner and her cheeks had a light rosy flush with her lips painted red. She looked a very pretty sight in her dark orchid fading to dark blue kimono trimmed with a silver moon and lined with clouds.

She had to be Daisuke's sister. She looked extremely similar to 'Delilah'. The girl looked to be about 17 and she stood so poised and friendly and graceful as she greeted the customers. But then her dangerous eyes locked onto little Naruto and immediately the smile left her painted face. Naruto squirmed, wishing Ryder was back.

The girl strode over, all power and business, "Who are you?" she asked. Her voice was still polite but had a very sharp edge on it. Naruto felt like he was intruding and wanted to leave.

"Uh... uhm..." he fidgeted with his backpack strap, "I'm Daisuke's friend... Naruto..." he couldn't look her in the eye.

"Oh, you're here for Daisuke..." she sighed exasperatedly and rolled her pretty eyes. "I'll go get him for you."

She walked away with a bitter air around her. Naruto breathed a heavy sigh of relief when she turned a corner and out of sight. He slumped against the wall. "Phew..."

Ryder chose to come back at that moment with a grin on her thin face. "So, you met Saiya? Scary, isn't she?"

Naruto glared, not saying anything. "Where's Daisuke? I wanna leave," he pouted.

"Naruto-kun! Ryder! What are you doing here?" Daisuke yelled in shock as he came around the corner to see them. He was all dressed up again with the long green hair, glasses and dark, navy blue kimono fading to purple and trimmed with silver stars. This time, Naruto couldn't see the scar spanning the bridge of his nose under the glasses and quietly wondered why.

"Surprise! We wanted to visit our dear friend, Delilah!" Ryder grinned evilly.

"Like I don't have enough on my plate!" Daisuke muttered, looking around the lobby cautiously.

"What's the deal?" Naruto asked.

"Sakaeguchi-kun has been stalking me," Daisuke whimpered, pulling Naruto and Ryder into a little room off to the side to talk to them without being seen. "He hasn't left me alone all day!"

"Sakaeguchi-kun? From class?" Ryder asked, feeling no sympathy what so ever.

"Yeah. He moved here last year with his family but because of the paperwork for their new house, they ended up staying at our Inn for a week until it was all ready to go. But since then, he keeps coming back to visit and asking for me! Saiya is just loving my torture!" he cried, tugging on his long hair in torment.

Naruto sniggered and Ryder clapped a sarcastic hand on Daisuke's back, "Well, have you tried telling him you're a boy?"

"NO! Are you crazy! That's _so_ embarrassing! I could never admit to that! What would he think of me then? He would never want to be in my class ever again! That and Mother would kill me for telling a customer..." he sobbed, frantically pacing the small room.

"DELILAH!" a loud, female voice rang out, "ROOM SERVICE FOR 307!"

Daisuke cringed and whimpered pathetically. "I have to go... wish me luck..." he sighed. He peeped out the door to check and see if the coast was clear before taking off down the hall, doing his best to run down the hallway in his kimono.

Ryder and Naruto laughed hysterically as they watched him go. They were exiting the room and walking around the Inn when they ran into Sakaeguchi. Ryder recognized him immediately and a wide grin spread across her face but this was Naruto's first time meeting the boy.

He looked to be their age with short brown hair and shining chocolate eyes. He was dressed quite casually with blue jeans and a black t-shirt. He looked excited, like he was looking for something and Naruto laughed in his head.

"Hey, Sakaeguchi-kun! What a surprise! What are you doing here?" Ryder called, waving the boy over.

He smiled and waved, walking over to greet them, "Hey, Ryder-Kun. I'm here to see a friend." He turned to Naruto and bowed politely, "Hello, I am Sakaeguchi Yūto."

Naruto, a little startled and caught off guard, bowed back, "I am Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you."

Sakaeguchi turned back to Ryder and smiled, "Have you seen a pretty girl named Delilah by any chance? I came to see her but she's always so busy! I can never catch her!"

Ryder grinned mischievously, "Ah, I think I heard her called up to the third floor! You should go now before you miss her!"

Sakaeguchi didn't even stop to say thanks or goodbye. He was gone in an almost cartoon-like poof of smoke. Naruto and Ryder looked at each other knowingly and burst out laughing. Ah, what a fun day this will be!

...

At the start of the Grade 7 year, Gaara felt a little nervous. He was being transferred to a new school and starting a new life. Mihoshi Junior High School was going to be his new start. His refresh button. Temari, now 20, was working hard on getting her business degree and still supporting her brothers. Gaara had gotten used to life without Orochimaru and was slowly starting to appreciate the work and effort Temari and Kankuro had put in to help him.

Kankuro, now 16, was already in Mihoshi but in the High School. Separate buildings, same campus. Gaara felt a little tense. From his years of delinquency, his reputation had more than likely preceded him. He was worried that despite his efforts, everyone would still see him as the One-Tail Demon, Shukaku. He had turned a new leaf and was really trying to put in the effort to be a better person. Really. But after years of being a rebellious and disturbed child, it was taking a lot more effort than he originally thought. But for his family's sake, and for his own, he was trying to make the change.

The morning hours marched onwards as Temari worked on the days' lunches for her brothers down in the tiny apartment kitchen. Kankuro was in the shower like he was every morning. And Gaara? Gaara was staring at the ceiling while lying on his small bed. His school uniform was hanging, untouched in his closet. The red-head was slowly gathering the courage to put it on.

A new school. A new life... was it possible that kids such as him could be saved? Were kids like him even worth the trouble? He didn't really think so but perhaps... a new change of location, a change of people and lifestyle... maybe things wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

Maybe.

He stood slowly when he heard Kankuro get out of the shower and he started putting the uniform on, telling himself that this wasn't going to be so bad. Uniform on, school bag in hand and trying not to look like he would murder everyone, Gaara made his way downstairs. Temari smiled brightly when she saw him all dressed and ready for school.

"Goood MORNING~!" Temari sang, handing him his bento.

"What the Hell was in your coffee this morning?" he grumbled, stashing his bento in his school bag.

Temari frowned for a moment before smiling brightly again, "Oh, well just your usual stuff, coffee grounds, sugar, milk..."

Gaara rolled his sea-foam green eyes with a sigh. Kankuro came down in his uniform. Because he was in high school, he got the dark blue blazer style uniform with a silver tie to show he was in grade 11. It looked classy and sophisticated and made Gaara slightly jealous. Because he was in middle school, he had the traditional dark blue Gakuran style uniform with the stiff collar with his year stitched into his collar. He was a first year middle school student so the number 1 was stitched in gold and the buttons were gold as well. No cool blazer, no nice coloured ties.

Girls were luckier. Whether in middle or high school, they wore blazer style uniforms and just had different color ribbons to show their years. Stupid girls.

Temari bothered Kankuro with her silly perkiness as she gave him his bento too and he muttered his grumpy good morning back. Then, after a quick breakfast, the boys were out the door and on their way.

New life... new life... new life... Gaara refused to believe that things wouldn't get better. They _had to. _He would make it happen.

...

Ah, opening ceremonies. A dull but mandatory part of starting every school year. However, Haruno Sakura didn't really mind. It was always one of her best moments because she could see Uchiha Sasuke. Her crush. Her love. Her future husband. He really loved her too...he just wasn't aware of it yet.

Opening ceremonies always had to be attended in full uniform and Sakura did so reluctantly. She liked to be able to accessorize and make a statement with her wonderful fashion sense. She wanted to show off to Sasuke, give him a taste of how cute and unique she could look when she wasn't stuck in her drab school uniform. Silly school rules... she would just have to make do with what she had. So she wore her blazer open, her shirt half untucked for aloofness. She wore her red ribbon, showing she was in grade 7, loose and not tied properly. Her skirt she kept the same but she wore white loose socks over cute blue flats.

Looking in the mirror that morning, Sakura greatly approved of her 'bad ass' image and thought Sasuke would for sure notice her. He had to! The grades sat in their own sections and organized by last name so Sakura never got the chance to sit close to him but she could still keep a good eye on him if she pretended to flip her hair back and look to the side as if she were bored.

There he sat, looking beautiful as always. Straight backed, cool and statuesque. Hot. But... for some reason he looked like he wasn't paying attention to the ceremonies and the Principle speaking. He was talking, no, _flirting_ with a girl sitting behind him! Uchiha Sasuke..._flirting_...with some girl that wasn't her! What was going on?

Panic flooded the 12-year-old, pink haired girl. It wasn't fair! She never had a chance to speak with him yet and some other girl encroaches on her territory? The cruelty! The torture! And there was nothing Sakura could do but watch and wait with angry green eyes until opening ceremonies were done.

Sakura vowed right then that no matter what it took, she was going to win Sasuke's attention and have him want her so bad that he won't even _look_ at other girls. She would make it happen. She _would_. Sasuke was hers. She looked back up at the Principle who was still talking on and on about expectations and rules and crap. The Principle was tall and majorly busty with long blonde hair and scary looking amber eyes. Someone Sakura wouldn't want to piss off...

But still the pre-teen looked to the side and used her peripheral vision to spy on that home wrecker flirting with _her _Sasuke. The worst part about it was that Sasuke seemed to enjoy her conversation! The girl was turning his brain to mush! She wasn't even all that attractive either! Red hair that was messy on the right side but long and straight on the left with red eyes to match. Sakura thought she looked rather plain and homely. But maybe it was the messy hair? The brown glasses? The fact that she was playing with a pocket knife like it was a toy?

Sakura didn't like her...

...

The first couple of day of school went by really fast as they usually do. When the days came to sign up for clubs, there was no question about who was joining where. Sasuke signed up for basketball, of course. Sakura and Ino signed up for cheerleading. Naruto, Daisuke and Sakaeguchi, now that they were all in the same school, signed up for baseball. And Ryder...well... Ryder was out of luck...

"What do you _mean_ there's no girls baseball team?" Ryder almost yelled at Tsunade, the Principle of Mihoshi Junior High School.

"Sumimasen, Ryder-chan, but there really is no girls' team here. Not enough girls are interested in baseball or any other sports really. There's a tennis team, badminton, volleyball, cheerleading... can't you pick one of those?" Tsunade sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose tiredly. Of all the people in the world, only Ryder's parents and Tsunade-baa-chan could call Ryder '-chan'.

"No, Tsunade-baa-chan! You know I love baseball... you've been to my games and seen my awards... you've seen everything I've gone through to hide it from my parents! You have to let me continue!" the silver-haired girl pleaded with wet green eyes. She wasn't crying, just tearing up out of anger.

Tsunade sighed again and looked up at the trio. Daisuke, Naruto and Ryder all looked angry and willing to do what it took to make Tsunade change her mind. "There isn't anything I can do, Ryder-chan..."

Daisuke's muddy brown eyes lit up suddenly and he stepped forward, "Ah, Tsunade-Sama, what if...Ano, what if Ryder-kun joined the boys team? Pretended to be a guy?"

Naruto's bright blue eyes lit up in amazement, "Daisuke, you're a genius!" he cried.

Tsunade's eyes even went wide at the wild idea. "Daisuke-kun, it's a brave thought but there's no way I could possibly do-"

"Tsunade-baa-chan! Pllleeeeaaasssseeee... you _have_ to let me join the team... please! I'll get good grades all year and I won't get into any more fights, I promise!" Ryder begged and threw herself on the floor with imploring eyes and a puppy dog pout on her cute pink lips.

"You don't know what you're asking from me... it's not just about your grades; there's so much behind this... you'd have to pretend to be a boy not just in baseball but in school as well otherwise people would question it..." Tsunade started listing off all the others things that would have to happen and the young girl looked completely willing to do them all.

"I'll do it. I'll wear pants, keep my hair short. I'll change in the bathroom stalls. I'll get good grades... anything, Tsunade-baa-chan!"

Tsunade glanced from child to child. They all looked determined and willing... they are willing now but... what about when a few weeks had gone by, a few months? Would they be willing then? Tsunade would be putting her job on the line to let Ryder parade around as a boy just to join the baseball team...

She sighed and, against her better judgement, nodded. "Fine... but you have to do everything possible to keep this a secret... all of you... Ryder, you are officially a boy of Mihoshi Junior... I'll get you a boy's uniform..." she went to the storage room and heard a chorus of cheerful and victorious shouts and laughter behind her.

Well, at least she made 3 happy... now, the hard part...not getting caught...

...

Yamanaka Ino, a pretty little blonde girl with dazzling blue eyes, was walking down the hall to the restroom with hall pass in hand when 3 boys walked out of the Principles office with cheerful smiles. She recognized the trouble maker, Uzumaki Naruto. The other two she didn't recognize. One had dark green hair and brown eyes with a bandage on his nose. The other one though, was the one that caught her attention. The boy was a tad shorter than the other two with brilliant messy silver hair and amazing soft green eyes. He looked _so_ handsome, all trimmed and neat in his Gakuran uniform.

Ino's heart skipped a little beat as the seventh grader instantly fell in love... she _had _to know that boy... before the 3 walked away and out of sight, she called out to Naruto. Regretfully. She never liked the tanned boy. He was strange and dark and rude. But out of the group, he was the only one she recognized.

"Yes, Yamanaka-san?" Naruto answered. Daisuke and Ryder stopped as well.

"Oh, I just wanted to know what club you joined?" she asked, not really interested, but being 12, there really wasn't much else she could think of.

"Oh, I joined baseball. What about you?"

"I'm in cheerleading! Isn't that great?" she turned to the two unfamiliar boys. "How about you, uhm..." she paused, waiting for them to state their names.

"Ah, I'm Kazumi Daisuke. This is my friend, Izumi Ryder. We all joined baseball," the green haired one spoke.

"Pleased to meet you! I'm Yamanaka Ino. Anyways, I have to get back to class! Nice chatting with you! Ja ne!" she called as she bounced away back towards her class, her blonde pony-tail swinging, a light blush tingling her cheeks.

Izumi Ryder, huh? She only hoped she could see more of him! He was such a gorgeous boy! Halfway back to her class however, Ino remembered that she never got the chance to go to the bathroom...

...

**Ok, I am SO SORRY to all my readers who have been waiting patiently for me to update! I know it`s been months and I feel like such a horrible person for not updating sooner! Please don`t hate me! **

**So much has been going on and only now has it settled enough for me to grab a few moments of peace and my significant other is being SO supportive and giving me the space I really needed to get through this. So, again, I`m so sorry, but here is a new chapter for you guys. I really hope you enjoy it... It`s really starting to pick up now and the plot is thickening...**

**Anyhow, thanks again, as always, to Bubbles who really helped out with this chapter and reminded me of where we were going with this chapter. **

**THANK YOU READERS FOR BEING PATIENT AND SHOWING SUPPORT TO THIS STORY!**

**Love you all,**

**TLC**


	5. Road To Discovery

Growing Up With Dreams

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters. They belong to Misashi Kishimoto. As well, I do not own any of the characters from The Big Windup! They belong to Asa Higuchi.

**WARNING:** **YAOI. Boyxboy**. Don't like it, don't read it. As well, we have changed some of the characters from Naruto and Big Windup. Names and faces will remain the same but ages, personalities, occupations, etc will be altered. **THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING! **Also, a majority of the cities are real cities in Japan. The ones located on the Island, Yumenoshima, however, are fake. So the Island itself and the cities, Shi Yume, Kaigen no Yume, Chīsana Yume, and Nōmin no Yume and the Mountain, Hoshi No Miyama, etc, and anything else on the Island is fake.

**EXTREME DRAMA!**

**Chapter Five – Road To Discovery**

Temari was excited. She was happy. After moving out of Orochimaru's two years ago, things had really been picking up. Her dear friend, Hidaka-San, had been nothing if not an absolute angel to her and her brothers. They still lived in the tiny, two bedroom apartment above the bar and grill that she worked at. Working there for the two years had really gotten her places.

Hidaka-San had promoted her to manager of his little bar and she made enough money to eventually catch up on her debt to him and put money away into savings. She alone was putting her brothers through school and now she was putting herself through College. Business Management. She wanted the skills to move forward and earn more and do something with herself. Maybe even eventually take over Hidaka-San's business.

The blonde couldn't wait. It was a four year course but it would be worth it. Kankuro was in Grade 10 and would be going to college in just 3 short years… Temari wanted to be able to pay for him to go. She wanted him to go where he wanted and be able to accomplish his dreams. And Gaara, her youngest brother, definitely deserved to go to College too. The only way to do that was to go to school and acquire the skills needed to move up and get a better paying job. So that's what she would do.

What a generous, hard working, selfless sister she was! Well, she thought so anyways. Hidaka-San seemed to think so too. But no one would ever be as caring and generous as that man. With a happy sigh, Temari walked into her first class of the day, excited to be there.

…

Gaara felt out of place at Mihoshi High. Mind you, he felt out of place everywhere. However, he wasn't receiving hate glares or glances and whispered words or suspicious stares. Maybe his reputation _hadn't_ preceded him. That would be nice. Well, so far so good, anyways. He nervously adjusted his Gakuran uniform and headed down the hallways towards his next class. On his lunch break though, the crowd was so thick and moving steadily and all over the place that Gaara ended up getting pushed into a room that Gaara didn't recognise at first.

After taking a moment to compose himself, the pre-teen looked around and realized that he had stumbled upon the library. The red-head breathed a sigh of relief. He liked libraries. He liked books. Gaara used to read a lot as a younger child because it helped him escape and leave this world, forget himself and immerse himself in a world far greater than his own.

Silently, he made his way into the library and took a look around its massive shelves shoved full of amazing books just waiting to be read. With a gentle smile on his face, he picked a book he recognised and made his way over to one of the few couches they had in there.

Lunch was forgotten. Lunch wasn't important. Gaara felt a peace, at home in the silent library. A place where it was calm. He sat down on a couch that was already inhabited by a scrawny looking boy who looked to be about the same age. The boy had dark brown hair tied back into a spiky ponytail and his eyes were closed, arms behind his head, lounging casually. Comfortably. There was another boy beside him. Rather chubby and loud looking but he was intensely immersed in a book as he munched quietly on a bag of chips.

Gaara liked the way they looked and wondered momentarily if he would ever make friends here. Start a new life with people who didn't care who he was.

Sighing, he turned to his book and cracked it open, starting to read the well worn, almost memorized words scrawled across the page.

"Dickens. Good choice," a lazy voice drawled. Gaara looked up, sea-foam green eyes questioning as they looked over at the boy with the ponytail. His dark brown eyes were open half way looking completely uninterested.

"Uh, thanks. Do you like Dickens?" Gaara asked gingerly.

"Yeah, one of my favourites but I like Herman Melville myself."

With a cautious smile, Gaara nodded, remembering the famous novel _Moby Dick_. The boy had good taste for a 12-year-old. "What else do you like to read?"

"Ah, not much. I can't be bothered half the time… I can't even bring myself to open a text book… But I do enjoy Anne Rice and Nathanial Hawthorn. How about you?"

Gaara's heart leapt excitedly. Was it really that easy? Could making friends come this easy for him? The lunch hour passed by quickly as he and the boy, Shikamaru, he later learned, talked in detail about their favourite books and authors. When the bell rang, signalling the end of the lunch hour, the red-head felt sad but Shikamaru had given him his number. Look at that. A friend.

…

Damn that Temari. He really should have done away with that child before she had a chance to interfere with him and his plans. You'd think being the CEO of a major corporation would give you some leeway with silly matters such as child custody. But going up against the law the _legal_ way turned out to be quite the hassle. And sadly, now that Gaara and Kankuro were 12 and up, they were legally able to make their own decisions about whom they wanted to live with.

Over the past two years, Orochimaru had been trying desperately to contact Kankuro or Gaara. Temari had been diligent in keeping him away. Blocking his numbers, shredding his letters, changing the boys' schools… No matter. Orochimaru had finally managed to track down his boys to Mihoshi High. Even though the Guardian had moved to Shi Yume after the kids moved out, he didn't mind driving the hour it took to get back to Kaigen No Yume.

Like his sister, Kankuro had been very good at eluding his old Guardian. But unlike the others, little Gaara was still impressionable.

The dark haired adult pulled up in front of the school in his nice, expensive, top of the line car and waited for school to get out. He didn't have to wait long before the bell rang, signalling the end of school. He watched with cool eyes as the teens spilled out of the school doors, yelling, screaming, running, pushing. Such loud, obnoxious children! Nuisance!

But yet, they could be so useful! They were naïve and open-minded enough to accept any lie they were fed. They just wanted something to believe, something to give themselves too. That's why he wanted Gaara… Gaara was still at that ripe age where he could still be talked into believing what Orochimaru had to say.

After a few moments, Orochimaru spotted the red-head leaving quietly, book in hand and a content smile on his pale face. He must've had a good day at school. The man stepped out of his car and called out to Gaara. The boy looked up and his green eyes focused on him immediately and widened with shock. Orochimaru beckoned Gaara over and reluctantly, the 12-year-old boy made his way over.

"Gaara! How have you been? Come, have a talk with me, we will go for some tea!" Orochimaru smiled widely and stepped aside, holding the door open.

"Temari said she didn't tell you where I went to school," he mumbled, glancing around cautiously.

Orochimaru frowned and his smile faltered. The only thing he hated about this boy was his quiet intelligence. The boy knew more than any kid should at his age. Yet Orochimaru needed him. He needed the boys' skill, mind and appearance to make his plan work. "Come now, don't you want to visit with your dear Orochimaru? I raised you and your siblings, Gaara. Don't you think it would be nice to see me once in a while?"

At the look of guilt on the boys face, Orochimaru knew he had won. He loved children! They were so easily persuaded. "Well… I guess for a little while won't hurt…" Gaara mumbled quietly, stepping into the car.

With a victorious grin, he climbed in behind him and closed the door.

…

"Iruka! I'm home!" Naruto called into his home. The house was quiet today and though that wasn't entirely unusual, the fact that he hadn't gotten a reply back is what peaked the boys' curiosity.

The blonde set down his back pack and took off his shoes before heading through his home. The house was clean and tidy, as it always was. All the rooms' doors were closed except for Iruka's office. So little Naruto padded quietly over and peeked inside. Iruka was leaning over his desk, a mask of quiet contemplation on his face, his brown hair mussed and his clothes oddly wrinkled like he had slept in them.

He was fussing over a pile of scattered papers on his desk. Pictures, newspaper clippings, a bunch of typed pages. Immensely intrigued, Naruto silently entered the room and moved in behind Iruka. The man was so deeply involved in his thoughts that he didn't notice Naruto at all. So the boy snuck in as close as he possibly could without getting into Iruka's line of sight and started looking over the papers that were scattered.

There were several pictures of a caved in tunnel. A caved in tunnel over a crushed train. Shattered glass, crumpled metal, rocks everywhere. Police were scattered, trying to search for people, digging up the rubble. Dogs were sniffing the area. It was total chaos. Naruto thought that if people were in that train when the rocks crushed it then there was _no way_ anyone survived; the train was near flat.

Looking away, the blue eyes scanned over the newspaper articles. _"Valentine Nightmare", "Tunnel collapse kills 15", "Accident or Murder?" _ Captivated, he read on and saw the date it happened. February 14th, 2005. Doing a little math in his head, he realized he would have been 5 years old when this happened. Suddenly, his heart clenched painfully. His parents died when he was five…

Inexplicably, he suddenly felt desperate. Why was Iruka looking at this? Why this accident? Naruto hurriedly scanned the articles, his heart racing painfully, and read the names of the victims; Shikkari Karura, Shikkari Jirou, Misashi Ami, Kirimoto Ryou, Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Mikoto, Uzumaki Kushina, Namikaze Minato…

Naruto's heart stopped for painful moment as he processed the information. His mom, Kushina, and his dad, Minato, had been killed in a train accident? Or was it a murder? Why was Iruka looking into it? Was it not an accident? Was it really a… a murder?

"Iruka?" his voice was tiny… small, fragile and shaky.

The man gasped and whirled around to face Naruto. "N-Naruto, I didn't hear you come in…" he tried to shuffle the papers away but it was too late. The damage had been done. "How was school?"

"My parents were killed?"

"Yes, Naruto. Your parents were killed in a train accident. You've known that since it happened…" the man said cautiously.

"But it wasn't an accident at all, was it? They were murdered… Who murdered them, 'Ruka?"

At first, he had no intention of telling Naruto. The boy really didn't need to know the details of his parents' death. Naruto didn't need to have the image of his parents being shattered by something as vile and disgusting as murder. But Naruto had read the articles… Naruto knew what Iruka was looking at. He was a smart 12-year-old. He could easily get access to a computer and look into it himself.

With a heavy sigh, Iruka closed his pained brown eyes and relented, "I don't know. I've been looking into the case for 6 years. The police at first thought it was a tragic accident. Then they found wire, traces of explosive residue and a motion sensor… But they have no clue who set up the explosion."

Naruto looked away for a moment. His little heart was hurting unbearably. Someone had purposefully taken his parents from him… Naruto was an orphan due to someone's choice to hurt good people. His sapphire eyes filled with painful tears and he couldn't stifle the sob that escaped his chest. He hurt. Naruto's heart broke, crushed by the new weight of this knowledge.

Iruka knelt in front of his little boy and put his hands on his shoulders gently, waiting for Naruto to look up. When he did, Iruka smiled as best he could, "It'll be ok, Naruto. This doesn't change anything. You're still here with me. You have great friends. You're doing better in school. Things are going great. Don't you worry about a thing, ok? Just let me take care of things."

Shaking his head, Naruto pushed Iruka away and ran out of the office. He continued running out of the house, only stopping to pull his shoes back on, before he was gone, down the road. He didn't know how to deal with this new information. His chest felt like it was being compressed, crushed. It was hard for him to breathe, to focus. Naruto ran blindly through the streets, not knowing where he was going.

He just wanted to move. To run away from the truth. He wished it wasn't true. With all his little, hurting heart, he wished that his parents were still here with him and he was growing up like a normal kid. He wished that all of this was a terrible dream, a nightmare…

The newspaper title flashed through his mind _"Valentine Nightmare". _ He couldn't take it; he collapsed where he stood, put his hands over his face, over the scars on his cheeks and cried. He cried for the loss of his parents, he cried for Iruka's pain and work over the last 7 years. Naruto cried for the other people who tragically met their untimely death. The boy cried for himself, for his loss, for his pain, for his hurt and his sudden empty loneliness.

Naruto cried until it felt like he had drowned himself in tears, till he cleansed his soul of his hurt. For a moment it even felt like he had washed away the scars on his cheeks…

He cried until there was nothing left.

…

Daisuke sighed as he cleaned out a room that had been messed up. It was yet another weekend at the Inn his mother owned, helping out. The only downside to helping his family was having to dress like a girl…

Nemui Inn had always been and always will be run by the females in his family. Which, unfortunately meant that because he was the second oldest, he had to help out his Mother's Inn from time to time. This also meant that he had to dress like a girl to keep up with the female persona of the Inn.

At first, it didn't overly bother the 12 year old boy. No body else but his family, and Ryder, knew it was him. His older sister, Saya, was in training to take over the Inn and once his younger sister, Tsubaki, was old enough to help out, at 10 years old, he wouldn't have to be here any more. But that wasn't for another two years.

He pushed his glasses up on his nose and brushed his long, forest green hair out of his face as he stood and moved around the room, tidying up. His yukata fit comfortably but the wig was torture; it was itchy all the time…

Another bad thing about dressing like a girl was not only having to at and play the part, but even when he started hitting puberty and his voice started cracking, he still had to pull of a girly voice. On top of that, he had acquired himself a stalker; Sakaeguchi Yuuto.

It all started back when Sakaeguchi's family had moved to the island of Yumenoshima. But before they had a house or any where to go, they stayed at Nemui Inn for a time to get their business in order. When Sakaeguchi met 'Delilah' the boy had fallen hard. In love. Completely, totally, irrevocably and undeniably in love with Daisuke's female disguise.

Even since the Sakaeguchi family had moved on and into Kaigen No Yume, Sakaeguchi had come to visit the in regularly to pester and fawn over 'Delilah'. It irritated Daisuke to no end. Now with it being the middle of his Grade 7 year, Daisuke feared being discovered. It would ruin his reputation and set numerous people against him.

It was embarrassing enough to have Naruto find out about his secret and Naruto was almost as close a friend as Ryder was. Imagine if someone else found out… someone like Sakaeguchi… or his family. Or his school… his life as he knew it would end.

With a sigh, Daisuke left the room, bringing the garbage and soiled sheets with him. He deposited the sheets into the laundry shoot they had in every hallway and set the garbage by the stairs before turning to head to the next room. But someone called for him.

"Delilah-Chan!"

Daisuke paled. He knew that voice and it wasn't his sisters. In terror, he turned to see Sakaeguchi racing up the stairs with a huge grin on his face. Shoot. Just when he was beginning to think he wouldn't have to see him this weekend…

"Ah, Sakaeguchi-San… here again are you?" Daisuke tried his hardest to put on a smile. He turned and headed to the next room to keep cleaning and, as he expected, Sakaeguchi followed him in.

"Of course!"

"When are you _not_ here?" Daisuke joked, setting about cleaning the room to distract himself.

Sakaeguchi chuckled and shrugged, leaning against the door frame and watching Daisuke clean out the room. It made Daisuke uncomfortable so he tried to distract himself and Sakaeguchi by talking to him. "So… Sakaeguchi-San… how is your family? Have you all settled into your home and schools yet?"

"Yes, quite well actually. We've all adapted to living here on the island. My younger brother, Kenta, has already made a few friends in his school and my older sister, Nana, has already found people to hang with and she's the president of a club in her high school. It's hard to believe that she only has one more year before she graduates. My father has been working a lot lately too, trying to support us all in our new home but we are all happier," Sakaeguchi smiled and shrugged.

Daisuke could understand. He sensed the boys' loneliness. He knew what it was like to be the middle child and to feel stuck. Yet grateful for everything he had. With one 17 year old sister, an 8 year old sister and two 5 year old twin boys, Daisuke felt like he was oddly stuck in the awkward middle at 12. Mind you though, he still had both his parents; his mother, Yukiko, who ran the Inn and his father, Ko, who was an author who worked from home.

Sakaeguchi, however, no longer had his Mother. Daisuke had learned, when the Sakaeguchi family had first come to stay at the Inn, that Sakaeguchi's mother had passed on a many years earlier.

"That's good. I'm glad to hear you are doing well," Daisuke smiled as he gathered up the dirty sheets. He moved to take them into the hallway but Sakaeguchi didn't move from the door frame. Daisuke ended up standing there awkwardly, a blush slowly making its way to his make-up covered cheeks.

Daisuke wondered vaguely if Sakaeguchi would recognize him. He was only wearing make-up to cover the scar across his nose and glasses perched on his nose to help cover it. But aside from his long hair and pretending to be a girl, Daisuke didn't really look any different from himself. The wig he was wearing was the exact same colour as his own natural hair. His eyes still the same muddy brown. He wore the same glasses in and out of school. He still had his dusting of freckles across his cheeks and nose.

There were many a time when Daisuke had wanted desperately to tell Sakaeguchi that he was a boy and that he was his school-mate and baseball team captain. But he knew better. He never told the boy who he really was. Though how Sakaeguchi could go to school with him and play baseball with him and _not_ know that Daisuke and 'Delilah' were one in the same was beyond Daisuke.

"Uhm, excuse me, Sakaeguchi-San," Daisuke murmured politely, bowing his head.

Sakaeguchi moved aside just enough for Daisuke to pass by to put the sheets in the chute and back into the room to collect the garbage. There was a strange look in the chocolate brown eyes as Daisuke walked past him.

"Why won't you say you will go out with me, Delilah-Chan?" Sakaeguchi asked suddenly.

Daisuke gasped and whirled around to face the boy. "Sakaeguchi-San! That's very inappropriate! You know I can't! I have to stay here at the Inn…" Daisuke's blush grew and he looked away. How embarrassing… thank the Gods that Ryder and Naruto weren't here otherwise he would never hear the end of it…

He had to endure their teasing enough as it was!

"But Delilah-Chan, just one date. Dinner, a movie, a festival, _something_… just once? How can you say no?" Sakaeguchi pleaded. Persistent bugger, Daisuke would give him that.

H shook his head, his long green locks shifting, "No, Sakaeguchi-San, I cannot grant you your request! It would be better if you would just move on… Stop visiting me." It almost hurt to break it to him this way but it was the only way to be left alone. The risk of being found out was high as it was without going out on a date!

Daisuke knew that if he were to go out on a date, he wanted to be himself. Not dressed as a girl and playing pretend.

"Delilah-Chan, you don't mean that. Just one date, please? If you say yes and come with me, I'll leave you along and stop bothering you… I promise. Just one date!" Sakaeguchi pressed, touching Daisuke under his chin to lift his face.

Daisuke felt almost feverish he was blushing so hard. His face was probably bright red right now! What a staggering position to be in! What was he to do?

"Ok! Ok, fine… one date. Just one. Then you leave me alone, you promise?" Daisuke's voice cracked and shook with mortification.

Sakaeguchi's face lit up with a bright smile and he stepped back, grabbed Daisuke's hand and bowed, kissing his knuckles. "Then join me for the Sanno Festival during Spring Break and before Grade 8 starts?" He asked tenderly.

Daisuke blushed darker, if that was possible at that point, and nodded. Sakaeguchi grinned and dropped Daisuke's hand and walked out of the room, hands in pockets and whistling a merry tune. Daisuke dropped to his knees, tears in his muddy brown eyes as he fought to understand the situation he had just gotten himself into.

…

Ryder had been having a really good day. It was close to the end of Grade 7 and she had successfully gone through the year, convincing everyone that she was a boy. She hadn't run into a problem yet where her identity would be compromised. Though, granted, it was a little difficult when it came to changing for gym class and for baseball. Waiting for the changing rooms was a bit frustrating. But other than that, Ryder was thoroughly enjoying her time as a boy of Mihoshi High.

Well… then again, there was that time when Ryder had gotten cornered by a couple girls. There were some love notes stuffed in her locker throughout the year and a few small confessions here and there. But the one girl Ryder really had to look out for was that blonde Yamanaka Ino. That girl was among the worst.

However, Ryder had done quite well, fending off the same-sex population. Naruto had bothered her about being a girl-hog and getting more attention than any other guy. Ryder always countered with the fact that if those girls knew Ryder was a girl as well, she wouldn't be getting any offers at all…

Sometimes Ryder really thought that Naruto and Daisuke forgot that she was a girl and not a boy. At first it kind of bothered her. It bothered her because for quite sometime while growing up with Naruto and Daisuke, she had a crush of Naruto… she still kind of did. But she knew he never saw her that way. To him, she was "one of the guys". With Ryder's attitude and personality being what it was, it didn't help her situation at all. But after a time, she got used to the idea that Naruto and Daisuke viewed her as a boy.

It didn't bother her as much any more. She wasn't much interested in dating either. Her primary love was baseball and dance. Mind you, if she started dating, it would just be weird… she was a girl, pretending to be a boy… who could she date without it turning out just plain…weird…

So Ryder gave up on romance and focused on what she was good at; baseball.

However, today was not going to let Ryder have her way. Ryder was just coming out of the boys change room after gym class; one of the last ones to leave because she had to wait for a stall. She was running her fingers through her short, messy silver hair and carrying her school bag and Gakuran jacket when she was stopped from heading to her next class.

"Izumi-kun!"

Ryder frowned and looked around to see who called her name. "Ah, Yamanaka-San. How are you today?" Ryder asked politely. Ino fell in step beside Ryder as she headed towards her next class.

"I'm great. How are you today, Izumi-kun?" Ino smiled brightly up at Ryder. Ryder may have been 12 and a girl but she was tall for her age, always a few inches taller than most girls and some guys.

"I'm good. Just finished gym. Heading to my Japanese class. What's your next class?" Ryder was really good at small talk and talking to both girls and guys. She always kind of considered herself half and half of each which enabled her to mingle inconspicuously with either group though she was fairly quiet outside of sports.

"I have Home Economics next," Ino smiled. Ryder shuddered. She hated that class. But because her parents had no idea she was parading around as a boy, she had to take Home-Ec and other girly classes. Ryder hated how strict her family was in the traditions and upbringing of their kids. They wanted Ryder to be a little lady so desperately but Ryder had turned out to be the exact opposite. So she kept it a well guarded secret…

"Isn't that in the other direction?" Ryder asked curiously as she pulled on her Gakuran style jacket with her year embroidered into the collar.

"Yes, but I just thought I'd keep you company for a little while, Izumi-kun…" Ino blushed prettily and batted her eyelashes cutely.

Ryder blushed and looked away. Damn these girls and them hitting on her! Ryder never really felt the need to tell any of them she was a girl; this had become a sort of game between Naruto, Daisuke and her. Ryder had thought it quite amusing and hilarious and often teased Naruto about not getting any offers. Naruto and Ryder also teased Daisuke about Sakaeguchi-kun because Daisuke was in much the same situation as Ryder except that his was less permanent than Ryders'.

Even so, Ryder still got uncomfortable when girls clearly offered themselves and flirted with her.

"Oh, h-how nice…" Ryder stammered, not quite sure what to say to that.

"Listen, Izumi-kun, May I ask you a question?"

Ryder felt dread but she nodded and waited. The hallway seemed to stretch on forever… She really thought her class was closer than this?

"Are you doing anything special during Spring Break?"

"Uhm… other than working on my baseball and dance… no. Why do you ask?" Ryder was nervous enough to start chewing her lip and fidgeting with her fingers. She didn't like where this was going.

"I was just wondering if you would go to the Sanno Festival with me?" Ino asked, looking up with pleading blue eyes.

"Ah, uhm, Yamanaka-San, I'm not sure if that's… I mean, I'm sure there are other guys who are asking for you to go with them…" Ryder blushed darkly, knowing full well that the Sanno Festival was to pray for good harvests.

"Well, yes, but I didn't want to go with them… I wanted to go with you, Izumi-kun," Ino smiled and blushed prettily.

Ryder blinked, her bright green eyes fearful and flustered; what did she say to that? Didn't Daisuke have this issue just last week with Sakaeguchi-kun? He ended up giving in to Sakaeguchi-kun and freaking out about it since… Poor Daisuke had a hard time being in the same room as Sakaeguchi-kun now.

What was Ryder to do?

"Uhm… I uh… I don't think that's a good idea, Yamanaka-San. I mean, I'm not exactly…"

"Please, call me Ino," she interrupted.

"I-Ino… I'm not exactly, date material, you know? Uhm… try Uzumaki Naruto… I'm sure he'd love to go with you." Ryder was started to get frustrated. Just where was her class? She was positively sure that her Japanese class was closer than this… why was it taking an awkward eternity to get there?

"Ew, Uzumaki-San is _so_ not my type. But Izumi-Kun is… Please, go out with me to the Sanno Festival?" the girl pleaded, stepping in front of poor little Ryder and making her stop in her tracks.

Ryder blushed furiously and ran her fingers through her silver hair, feeling like she was going to start sweating under the pressure. "Uh, well, uhm, I mean, maybe?"

"Plllllleeeeaaaaassssseeeeee, Izumi-Kun?" Ino begged, putting her dainty hands together and putting on a terrific puppy dog pout on her pale face.

How could Ryder say no?

With a defeated sigh, Ryder nodded, "Alright, Ino… I'll go with you to the Sanno Festival…"

Ino squealed with delight and her face lit up with victorious joy. "Yes! Thank you so much, Izumi-kun! I'll see you later!" the blonde girl took off down the hallway, giggling with giddiness as she headed to her Home-Ec class.

The late bell rang and Ryder cursed as she ran to her Japanese class. Daisuke and Naruto were never going to let her live this down…

…

"Oh, come _on_, Daisuke! You _have_ to help me!" Ryder begged.

It was the weekend before the Sanno Festival and Ryder was getting desperate. "She's hounding me every chance she gets! I just know she's going to try something on me! You've _gotta_ help me!"

Daisuke shook his head with a teasing smile. "You know I've got my own date to go on… get Naruto to help you!"

Naruto laughed and shook his head. "I'd pay just to go and watch! But I'm not going to go and help you, Ryder!"

With angry tears in her eyes, Ryder growled and stomped off to the kitchen. Naruto and Daisuke looked at each other with mischievous grins and chuckling amongst themselves.

"Well, she had to know that her good streak wasn't going to last forever," Daisuke shrugged.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. Well, same goes for you, you know. You could only avoid Sakaeguchi-kun for so long…" Naruto teased with a wicked smile on his tanned face.

Daisuke blushed darkly and gingerly touched the scar on the bridge of his nose and looked away uneasily. "All year he pestered me… he cornered me! In my defence, he kissed my hand… it caught me off guard!" he grumbled.

Naruto snorted, "You could have pulled your hand away… you could have just told him off… you could have called for help… there's lots you coulda done, Dai… but you _let_ him… you _gave in_ to him… So what's your excuse now?" Naruto pointed out.

Daisuke stood in shocked silence. Naruto was right. He _could _have pulled away. He _could _have told Sakaeguchi to flat out leave him alone, no Festival date needed. However, Daisuke had positively stopped thinking properly when Sakaeguchi had touched his chin… kissed his hand…

It was so embarrassing and stupid and Daisuke had no explanation as to why he gave in to Sakaeguchi the way he did… And Daisuke didn't like not knowing, not having control over his own actions. How did Sakaeguchi do that? Daisuke didn't know…

Daisuke was saved from trying to answer Naruto when Ryder stormed back into the room, "I'll make you cinnamon buns for a month if you help me at the Sanno Festival!" Ryder announced loudly.

Daisuke blinked and sighed. "I hate that you know my weakness…"

"Yes!" Ryder shouted, throwing her arms victoriously into the air.

Naruto laughed and shook his head. These two were honestly such an odd pair some days…

"Well, what about you, Naruto? Aren't you going to the Sanno Festival?" Ryder asked, sitting down on Daisuke's bed.

"Yeah, I am. Hyuuga Hinata asked me to go with her," he grinned, a tiny, faint blush crossing his cheeks.

Daisuke, grateful the attention was turned away from him, prodded further. "The shy girl who always faints around you? How in the world did she get the courage up to ask you?"

Naruto blushed darker and glanced away for a moment. "Well… uh, her friends dragged her to me and when she couldn't ask properly, they asked for her… when I said sure, she promptly squeaked and fainted…" he admitted quietly.

Ryder and Daisuke looked at Naruto, open mouthed, looked at each other then dropped to the ground laughing hysterically, their own troubles forgotten momentarily.

…

The Sanno Festival came and 3 young 13 year olds nervously made their way through the crowds to find their dates. Naruto met up with Hinata right away. She was dressed beautifully in her little traditional kimono. Earthy colours and designs to pray for the Harvests. Naruto had gotten Iruka's help with dressing for this occasion and had dressed similarly. With a wink, the blonde boy deserted Daisuke and Ryder.

The two nervously looked at each other. It was rather ironic, really. They each were dressed as the opposite sex, pretending to be people they weren't. Ryder, a tomboy, athletic and kind girl, pretending to be Ryder the boy to go on a date with Yamanaka Ino, the girl. Daisuke, a smart, gentle boy, forced to cross-dress as Delilah to help his family and now to go on a date with Sakaeguchi Yuuto, the boy.

Would their world of torment never end?

Daisuke promised to help Ryder for as long as he could as long as he didn't run into Sakaeguchi. Ryder agreed and said she would do the same for him if she ran into him. The two best friends agreed.

They made their way to the spot where Ryder would be meeting with Ino and waited. Though it didn't take long for the girl to show up. She spotted Ryder right away and latched onto her arm. "Izumi-kun! I'm so glad you made it!"

With a nervous backwards glance at Daisuke to make sure he was following, Ryder let herself be led away by Ino. The first thing they did was go visit a few prayer booths. This wasn't too bad; it required no contact and no talking. However, soon after, Ino led them to the temples and tried to get Ryder to play the couples' games they had set up.

Ryder, being the great athlete she was, succeeded in many of the games and won the small teddy bears and prizes for Ino. The blonde girl was positively beaming with joy like she couldn't be any happier. For a moment, this made Ryder feel good. That she could make someone happy just by doing what she was good at. By being herself.

The longer they spent together, the easier it was for Ryder to relax. They talked about school and friends and the cool things they did during their breaks from school. But just to be on the safe side, Ryder kept glancing back to see if Daisuke was still there following and watching. And he was; the ever faithful watch dog.

It went on like this for little over an hour before suddenly Daisuke wasn't there anymore. In a small panic, Ryder quickly scanned the area and quickly found him being dragged away by a brown haired boy. There was a blush across his freckled cheeks and Ryder knew that Sakaeguchi had claimed 'Delilah'.

Ryder was on her own.

"Are you ok, Izumi-kun?" Ino asked, pulling Ryders' attention back to what they were doing.

Ryder smiled nervously and nodded. The night was almost at its close and they were running out of things to do at the festival. Ryder offered to get them some food to snack on and Ino willingly agreed. They grabbed some dumplings and green-tea ice cream and sat to enjoy it. But Ryder noticed that as they ate, Ino got closer and closer to her.

Eventually, the blonde girl was almost sitting in her lap. Ryder blushed and tried to move away only to be followed until the hit the side handle on the bench and could go no further. Soon, a silence passed between them awkwardly and Ryder wondered just what she was supposed to do now.

Then Ino spoke, breaking the stillness. "Uhm… Izumi-kun? Could I… kiss you?" Her voice was breathy and soft yet unwavering like she knew what she wanted. Ryder jumped up from the bench and shook her head frantically, sending her short silver hair flying.

"N-no, Yamanaka-San… I don't th-think that's a good idea at all… I mean, I hardly know you and I'm really not interested in dating or anything. I don't think… is a good idea at all," Ryder stammered, unable to put her thoughts into words properly. Her face was burning up, her heart rate accelerated, her fidgeting at an all time high.

Ino just smiled and grabbed Ryder by the hand, leading her towards the park where the floats would be parading. Ryder seriously wished she would run into Naruto or Daisuke… she could use the help right now…

As they settled in and found spots to watch the parade, Ino never let go of Ryder's hand. This made the poor tomboy very uncomfortable. Ino inched her way closer and closer till she was pressed firmly against Ryder's side. Just when Ryder thought she was going to have to make a break for it, a prayer of hers was answered.

"Hey Ryder! How is the festival going for you?" Naruto called out to her and made his way over with cute little Hinata in tow.

Ryder nearly fainted with relief. Instead, she smiled and used him as an excuse to pull her way away from Ino. "Naruto! It's going good here. How about you? What have you two been up to?"

Hinata stood beside and slightly behind Naruto as he and Ryder spoke. Ryder tried very hard though, during her conversation with Naruto, to drop clues and hints to get him to get her away from Ino. Either the blonde was completely dumb and didn't pick up on it or he knew and refused to help, wanting to watch her suffer. Either way, Ryder was going to get him for it later.

All too soon, Naruto and Hinata said good bye and kept moving along. Feeling abandoned again, Ryder tried to keep her distance from the ever close Ino.

The parade rolled by and many people were happy to sit and watch. Ryder, however, was getting antsy and agitated. The parade faded away and there was only one event left; the fireworks.

Everyone, including Ryder and Ino, made their way over to the field where the fireworks would take place. The night had grown rather chilly. Ryder was used to the cold though and was quite a furnace. Ino, though, was shivering, teeth chattering quietly.

"Are you cold, Ino?" Ryder asked softly. Ino nodded her blonde head tried to rub her arms through her kimono. With a sigh, Ryder reluctantly wrapped her arms around Ino's shoulders, trying to share her body heat. Ino was all too happy to lean back into Ryder.

How awkward. Hopefully no one would come around and recognize her.

They waited in tense silence for the fireworks. Izumi was a whirlwind of confusion. Just what in the world had she gotten herself into? After tonight, after all this, Ryder was never going to hear the end of it from Ino. Ino was going to follow Ryder around like a puppy dog, attached and needy.

Ryder didn't want that. She was a girl disguised as a boy. She couldn't risk being found out and Ryder was a girl! She couldn't date another girl! Even if it was 'not real'. She would be breaking Ino's heart. And dating another girl was just wrong. This just couldn't go on past tonight… Ryder was going to have to cut this relationship off before it even started. On Monday at school, Ryder was going to have to tell Ino to leave her alone.

A loud bang and pop sounded in the sky and Ryder looked up to see the first of the fireworks explode in the air in a brilliance of colour. With a gentle smile, Ryder forgot her worries. She enjoyed the moment. For as long as she could.

…

Daisuke felt terrified. At first, following Ryder and Yamanaka-San was no big task. It was easy and simple. For the first half-hour, Ryder was tense and checking every 5 seconds if Daisuke was still there. But as the hour progressed, Ryder became more and more relaxed and checked for him less and less. And for a while, Daisuke forgot he was supposed to be meeting Sakaeguchi.

That is, until a hand suddenly enclosed around his own and he was tugged around to face the boy he had feared to see. Sakaeguchi had sniffed him out.

"S-Sakaeguchi-San!" Daisuke squeaked with shock. Daisuke blushed awkwardly and stepped away from Sakaeguchi, brushing the front of his light brown kimono, erasing non-existent wrinkles in the fabric.

"I'm glad you came, Delilah-Chan," the boy smiled happily.

"I'm g-glad to be here…" Daisuke murmured. Looking behind him, he realized he had lost track of Ryder and sighed. She was going to be angry with him later.

"Let's go play some of the games!" Sakaeguchi smiled and lead Daisuke back towards the booths and stalls. Unlike Ino who was very into the romantic side of things, Sakaeguchi didn't do the "couple games". Instead, he picked the difficult games and convinced Daisuke to partake.

It didn't take long for Daisuke to partially forget he was supposed to be a girl. His competitive side started to show as he gradually got more and more aggressive in his play. And because Sakaeguchi encouraged it, Daisuke soon forgot all together that he was supposed to be a boy, dressed as a girl, on a date with a boy who thought he was a girl. He started having fun, Gods forbid, and he started laughing and joking with the boy like he would have with Naruto and Ryder.

It felt almost natural. It felt like he was just Daisuke playing around with Sakaeguchi like they did in gym or in baseball. Just two boys having fun with each other. Just two friends having a good time at a festival.

Their entire evening continued like this. But the later it got, the more nervous Daisuke got. He knew it would have to come to an end. Sakaeguchi had promised to leave him alone. To never bother him again. Sakaeguchi would never bother Delilah.

Suddenly, with a confused and dread filled heart, Daisuke realized he didn't want that. He realized how much he actually liked Sakaeguchi. For the whole Grade 7 year, Daisuke found hanging out with Sakaeguchi to be extremely uncomfortable and awkward because the fine line between Daisuke and Delilah was being threatened.

But, spending the evening with him, actually having fun as both Daisuke and Delilah, was blurring that line. He wasn't just Daisuke because Daisuke would never have been in this situation. And neither was he Delilah, the quiet, shy, rarely seen girl who worked at Nemui Inn. He was both and neither. He was just a boy having a fantastic time with a good friend.

He wanted more of this. And he didn't think he could ever get this just being Daisuke. Maybe in order to get this kind of close friendship, he had to blur that line and be Delilah. Could he do that? He didn't really want to. He wanted to be just Daisuke. He wanted Sakaeguchi to be this kind of friend with just Daisuke, not Delilah. What should he do? He didn't know.

"You ok, Delilah-Chan?" Sakaeguchi asked softly, head tilted slightly to the side. His chocolate brown eyes were concerned. Daisuke smiled gently and nodded.

"Good. The fireworks are about to start. Want to go see them with me?"

"Of course," Daisuke answered, taking Sakaeguchi's offered arm. The pair made their way down to the fields and Daisuke suddenly wondered where the night had gone. It felt like it had only been minutes since he was following Ryder around. Time flies when you're having fun! He dimly realized that throughout the whole night, not once did Daisuke think of Ryder or Naruto or needing their help at all.

The pair found a nice cozy spot to settle down in. Daisuke shivered, feeling slightly cold from the chilly spring night. Sakaeguchi noticed and moved closer, wrapping his arm around Daisuke's shoulders gently.

"I've had a great time with you tonight, Delilah-Chan," Sakaeguchi smiled. He was truly sincere. That made Daisuke feel guilty. He felt like he was lying, cheating Sakaeguchi of the truth.

"I've had a lot of fun with you too, Sakaeguchi-San."

"Could you maybe call me Yuuto? It would make me feel better," the boy laughed nervously.

After a night like this, how could Daisuke refuse? "Sure."

They sat and waited patiently for the fireworks to come. People were moving around them and settling in for the fireworks too. Daisuke suddenly felt tired and worn out. With a yawn, he leaned his head against Sakae-…ahem… Yuuto's shoulder and relaxed.

Right then, the loud bang sounded, followed by the pop and the flash of bright colour, illuminating the dark night sky. "Wow," Daisuke whispered, pushing his glasses further up on his nose as he admired the beautiful sky.

"Delilah-Chan?" Yuuto's voice was soft and delicate. Daisuke looked up with questions in his muddy brown eyes.

"Yes, Yuuto-Kun?"

Yuuto closed his chocolate brown eyes and leaned forward, pressing his soft pink lips against Daisuke's. Daisuke flushed darkly and felt light headed and dizzy and almost disgusted. This was wrong. So, so wrong. And yet… Daisuke kissed him back.

…

ALRIGHT! Another Chapter come and gone! Sorry for the long wait but I made this chapter EXTRA long just to make up for it! This is THE longest chapter yet that I've written for this story! So enjoy!

Anyways, this was a bit of a difficult chapter to write. But I like that I can start slowing down and showing a little more depth and growth in the characters. And yes, I realize Sasuke isn't in this one but he will play a big part in the next one so no worries!

**As always, thanks to Bubblez, who has moved away from me ****, for being a BIG help in this chapter and helping me keep on track. **

Thank you to the few who have read and reviewed! I really enjoy hearing what you guys think!

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Love you all,**

**TLC**


	6. Truth and Lies

Growing Up With Dreams

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters. They belong to Misashi Kishimoto. As well, I do not own any of the characters from The Big Windup! They belong to Asa Higuchi.

**WARNING:** **YAOI. Boyxboy**. Don't like it, don't read it. As well, we have changed some of the characters from Naruto and Big Windup. Names and faces will remain the same but ages, personalities, occupations, etc will be altered. **THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING! **Also, a majority of the cities are real cities in Japan. The ones located on the Island, Yumenoshima, however, are fake. So the Island itself and the cities, Shi Yume, Kaigen no Yume, Chīsana Yume, and Nōmin no Yume and the Mountain, Hoshi No Miyama, etc, and anything else on the Island is fake.

**EXTREME DRAMA!**

**Chapter Six – Truth and Lies**

The beginning of the Grade 8 year was hard for Naruto. Since finding out just a few months ago that his parents were more than likely murdered, the 13-year-old boy had been devastated. How do you get used to that fact? That your parents were heartlessly murdered? That your loving, wonderful parents had been rudely taken away by someone else's cruel idea of a joke? How does a young boy take that news?

Needless to say, our poor Uzumaki had taken it rather hard. He was already hurt by the fact that he was growing up parentless but now he felt even more abandoned and distrustful of the world. Distrustful of people. Whoever did this was sick. Just plain sick. However, during his period of new grieving and mourning, he found some silver lining through it all.

His parents may have been gone but Naruto was lucky enough to go to a good guardian. A good man who did everything he could to make Naruto happy and make Naruto grow up to be a proper boy. Naruto could appreciate the sacrifices Iruka made for Naruto. And the blonde was extremely happy that it was indeed Iruka he had ended up with and not some foster family.

Then, beyond his own suffering, Naruto realized that he was not the only one who had lost his parents in the train accident. He knew Sasuke and his brother, Itachi, had lost their parents too. They all had the misfortune of being on that train. It made Naruto wonder… was there a specific target? Was there a particular person there who was the objective of the hit and the rest were just in the way; collateral damage? Thinking about this made Naruto feel sick to his stomach.

That such a person could be that heartless.

Naruto often wondered if Sasuke knew. He wondered if his ex-best friend knew that his parents were murdered and not just in some silly train accident. This thought is what spurred our blonde into action. On a brisk April Saturday morning, Naruto headed out on his ever faithful bike, as he was too terrified to take the train, and set out for the long journey to Shi Yume. By car it wasn't very far. Maybe half an hour to forty five minutes. But Naruto journeyed the bike paths and walking trails down south for at least an hour and a half to get to the city of Shi Yume. And then another 10 minutes or so to get to Sasuke's house. The only bad thing about this journey was that Naruto had to pass his old home to get there. So he passed in front of his childhood home but he didn't look at it. He didn't want to see it. He couldn't stand to see someone else living there.

He only wanted his memories of that place.

But finally the boy made it to the upper class part of the city and stopped his bike by the front door to the huge, dark house. Taking a deep breath, Naruto knocked on the door and anxiously waited for someone to answer the door.

Finally, a butler did. A greying old man impeccably dressed stood there looking down his too large nose at the little boy. "Yes?" the man barked rudely.

Naruto fidgeted and looked at the ground. "Uhm, I'd like to see Sasuke-Kun…"

"Regarding what?" the butler sneered.

"Uhm… I just want to talk to him about something important," Naruto looked up at the man through his blonde lashes.

"Wait here." The door slammed in Naruto's face and the boy stood stalk still. Now he was even more nervous than before. Would Sasuke even _want_ to talk to him? Would Sasuke even believe Naruto or listen to him? The worried boy fidgeted again, his foot scuffing the concrete step, his fingers twisting in knots, his blue eyes darting everywhere but the front door.

Until it opened again anyways. The boorish butler appeared again and opened the door, stepping aside to allow Naruto entrance into the household. Cautiously stepping in, Naruto looked around, admiring the large house from the inside for the first time and thinking that the butler deserved a name. He had heard Jeeves somewhere once. That was a good name he decided. Jeeves led Naruto through the house silently and quickly until they reached a sunken living room that housed a 60" TV, theatre seating, surround sound speakers, every gaming system possible, and shelves lined with books.

The young blonde was completely impressed. He didn't know such a wonderful, dream-come-true-room could exist! Staring open mouthed, he took in the sights greedily. He didn't fail to notice the little black haired boy sitting cross legged aggressively pounding away on a controller to a game playing up on the TV. He also didn't fail to notice the 3 other people in the room. Naruto recognized Suigetsu, the pointy toothed freak, pounding away on a second controller and cursing violently. Karin as well, her red hair pulled back into a pony tail and sitting behind Sasuke and cheering him on. And another larger teenager probably a year or two above them all with bright orange hair.

"Young Master, your guest is here to see you," Jeeves announced before shuffling away to some other part of the house. Naruto stood there, not knowing what to do or say. Some part of him wanted to sit down with all these people and join in the fun. He wanted to play games and watch movies in this wonderful room with friends. But then the other part of him objected and reprimanded the thought. Sasuke had chosen these people over him. Sasuke had made it painfully clear that he didn't want to be Naruto's friend any more. The constant bullying, the teasing, the mean practical jokes played… all served as reminders of why Naruto _wasn't_ part of that group right now.

"What do you want, Naruto?" Sasuke finally asked, not even bothering to pause his on-going game.

"I uhm, just wanted to talk to you about something important… in private," Naruto mumbled out, not daring to make eye contact with any of the teenagers in the room.

"You've got a lot of nerve coming here… what's so important that you need to ruin my Saturday for?" the young Uchiha asked, an icy chill in his voice.

Naruto's cheeks heated up in embarrassment and shame. "It's private, Sasuke… It's something only for you to hear…"

"Ugh, just go talk to him, Sasuke, so we can get back to our game!" Suigetsu growled, pausing the game with his controller and turning to glare at Naruto.

With a heavy, dramatic sigh, Sasuke stood, set down his controller, and walked past Naruto, beckoning him to another room a little further down the hall. Once inside with the door closed, Sasuke turned to coolly regard his ex-friend and neighbour. "What is it?"

Now that the situation had come and Sasuke was actually going to listen to Naruto, the boy realized he didn't know what to say. How do you start a conversation like this? 'Hey, how's it going?'

"Uhm… I don't know how else to put this, Sasuke, but… you know how our parents were killed in a train accident 8 years ago?" Naruto's blue eyes made steady contact with Sasuke's icy black ones.

Sasuke went rigid but still he nodded, acknowledging the incident.

"Well… I just found out a few months ago that uhm… it wasn't an accident at all… some one rigged that tunnel to collapse on top of the train on purpose… our parents were murdered, Sasuke…"

The blonde watched his companion closely, carefully, trying to determine what his reaction would be. At first, Sasuke looked confused. Then the boy looked sad. Then angry.

"How would you know this? Why would you tell me?"

"The police had found remnants of censors and powerful explosive residue like from C4… they just could never connect it to anyone so no one was ever charged…It became a cold case…"

Sasuke suddenly threw out his arms and shoved Naruto, hard, into the wall. "Why would you make this up? Are you trying to get back at me? This isn't funny, Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, his black eyes a whirlwind of chaotic emotion.

Naruto picked himself up and tried to console Sasuke. "I know it's hard to accept right now, Sasuke… I had a hard time too. But I thought it was something you should know," he explained as gently as he could.

"No, you're just sick, Naruto! Just sick! Get out of my house!" the raven haired child shouted and pushed Naruto out of the room and into the hallway. "Go! Get out of here!"

"But Sasuke, I was just-"

"No! I want you gone! I never want to see you again!" Sasuke, in his anger, threw a punch, connecting on Naruto's right cheek. The blonde tumbled to the ground, clutching his cheek in pain. But he didn't make a sound. He looked up at Sasuke with sad, understanding blue eyes, forgiving eyes. That made Sasuke even angrier. "You think I want your pity? Get out and I never want to see you again!"

Naruto slowly stood and inched backwards, his hands out in front to ward off any other attacks. "Sasuke, it's ok, I'm going… just calm down, ok?" He felt the cool wood of the front door pressed against his back and he opened it slowly.

"Get out you _monster!_" Sasuke roared, shoving Naruto so violently that he stumbled backwards through the door and down the 5 steps to the pavement.

Naruto hurt. Not just his back or his face. But his heart. His heart hurt deeply. He knew he wasn't friends with Sasuke any more, that wasn't his issue. But Naruto understood all too well how Sasuke was feeling and he couldn't blame him for his actions. Couldn't blame him for the insult. He knew. He could comprehend and recognize the misplaced anger and sorrow. He also knew that Sasuke would never be the same again. He knew that this information was going to do more to Sasuke than any one would ever be able to realize.

Without another word, Naruto got up, grabbed his bike and took off, ignoring the names and curses being thrown at him. His eye started swelling and throbbing with pain and he could feel the light scrapes and scratches from his tumble down the stairs as he made the long trip back home. There was nothing more he could do. He was sure Sasuke would ignore Naruto's existence and pretend he wasn't even a part of his life. But Naruto would never pretend. Never forget. Never ignore. He would always feel connected to Sasuke, no matter how many years went by.

…

After that little _demon_ left Sasuke's property, the young Uchiha yelled at his friends to get out before running upstairs to the comforting lap of his big brother. Itachi of course was a bit shocked and had questions but the 17-year-old waited patiently. He held his little brother and soothed him as best he could while he cried and clung desperately to Itachi's shirt and chest.

After a while though, Sasuke calmed down enough to talk to Itachi and told him what happened between him and Naruto. Though, after the story was finished, Itachi stayed uncomfortably silent. Too silent for Sasuke's liking.

"Onii-San?" the boy inquired curiously, wiping some stray tears from his eyes.

Itachi stroked Sasuke's hair slowly, thoughtfully, for a moment before replying. "I don't know if that's true, Sasuke… But don't you worry your pretty little head about it, ok? I'll look into it myself," the older brother promised with a gentle smile.

Of course, this made Sasuke feel infinitely better. His big brother always knew what to say to make him feel better! Itachi really was the best brother any one could ask for. When all Sasuke's friends stopped talking to him or left him, Itachi was always there with open, warm, waiting arms and kind words. What would Sasuke do without with wonderful brother?

…

"Man, that's a good shiner you got… Sasuke must've really hit you hard!" Kiba whistled appreciatively. The brown haired boy squinted his eyes and looked closer, examining the damage from the Uchiha boy. It was a nasty purple-greenish colour. It wasn't pretty, that was for damn sure! But with the attack having been just a few days ago, it was healing remarkably well. On anyone else it still would have been the darkest shade of blue-black and purple. Naruto's body just didn't like wounds, apparently, and got rid of them as fast as it could.

"Yeah, he did," the blonde boy shrugged. The bruise still hurt too but it was nothing. Naruto knew that in a few more days it would be gone completely. But he had invited Kiba over after school that day to just hang out seeing as Ryder was in her dance class today and Daisuke was at the Inn helping out again. He just needed a friend to keep him occupied.

The two boys walked into Naruto's home and headed straight into Naruto's room. Because Iruka was a teacher, he was still at the school doing whatever teachers did there. Naruto threw his backpack down in a corner and flopped onto his bed, complaining about his maths teacher.

For a short while the two boys bickered over which teacher was worse. The bickering turned into a heated argument and, as boys will be boys, they started a friendly wrestling match to show who was boss. They stumbled and rolled, pushing and pulling and grabbing amongst a gale of laughter.

At one point, Kiba had sat on top of Naruto and started pinning the boy down. Their aggressive behaviour meant they were bumping into things around Naruto's room. One such thing being a small bookshelf with some statues and pictures on top. One picture wasn't in a frame and when the bookshelf was bumped, it fluttered lazily down on top of Naruto's face. Naruto was ready to just push it off his face and continue on wrestling but Kiba stopped dead in his tracks.

"Who's that?" the bewildered boy asked, releasing Naruto's arms to pick up the picture. It had a very cute girl with short silver hair, the brightest green eyes, an adorable smile and a modest blush across her cheeks. The girl looked about their age. She was wearing a beautiful light green dress with stockings and flat shoes, looking at the camera with fondness. She looked like a picture from a fairy tale. So princess like and proper and beautiful. "How do you know a cutie like this, Naruto?"

Naruto realized what picture Kiba was looking at and immediately burst into a fit of laughter. "No, I can't tell you… she'd kill me…" he attempted to take the photo back but Kiba jumped to his feet and held the photo away from Naruto.

"No, tell me!"

"I can't! It's a secret!" Naruto was still giggling as he attempted to steal the photo back.

"C'mon, you know you can tell me!" Kiba begged, dodging and moving the photo away from Naruto's grasping hands.

"It's not my secret to tell, Kiba! Give it back!" the laughter was gone.

"I gotta know! She's so pretty! Just tell me; it's no big deal!"

With a frustrating growl, Naruto threw up his arms, "Well, look at her, Kiba! You know her! Who does she remind you of?" Then he stood back, arms crossed, eyes squinty as he waited impatiently for Kiba to figure it out.

Confused, the boy took another look at the photo. He just couldn't believe the fact that he knew this girl and he didn't even know it. If she had been in any of his classes he would have know about it! He looked closer at the picture and racked his brain. He didn't know anyone with silver hair and green eyes… Sakura had pink hair but her facial structure was different, this wasn't Sakura. Not adorable Hinata. Not scary Ten-ten. Not any girl Kiba knew.

So he thought of the people in general he knew with silver hair. Well, Kakashi but this 13 year old girl _clearly_ wasn't Kakashi. Kiba desperately wracked his brain, trying to figure out who this girl was! Well, there's Izumi Ryder, the guy on Naruto's baseball team that they hung out with. He and Kazumi Daisuke were Naruto's best friends.

Then the light bulb 'pinged' above Kiba's head. "Holy shit, is this Ryder?"

Naruto nodded solemnly.

"WHAT?! But she's… I mean, isn't he a… you know, a guy? Is he a cross-dresser? I don't understand?" Kiba wailed in despair, pulling his hair in his fruitless attempt to grasp this new development.

With a heavy sigh, Naruto sat on his bed. "It's a long story but no, Ryder isn't a cross-dresser. She just really loves baseball…"

Even more confused than before, Kiba sat on the bed next to Naruto and listened intently as Naruto told the story. How her parents were extremely strict and traditional and wanted her to be the perfect lady. But how she was a tomboy who just wanted to play baseball. He also explained how there were no girl baseball teams so they convinced Tsunade to register Ryder as a boy and keep it a secret from her parents. And that when Ryder went to dance, her father thought his perfect little girl was at Ballet, when she was actually at hip-hop or alternative dance and when she went to 'extra credit classes' she was actually playing at a baseball game. Naruto didn't leave out the fact that Ryder had to hide all her equipment at Daisuke's house and always carried other clothes for when she went back home so her parents would never suspect. She left her house in a girls school uniform, stopped at Daisuke's to change into the boys Gakuran uniform, and went to school with him. And the same for going back home.

Kiba connected the dots. It all made sense. Why Ryder always changed in the bathroom stalls, why she was "sick" or "allergic" to chlorine and couldn't swim with the rest of the gym class. "What an incredible lie," Kiba finally whispered. He looked at the photo in his hands again of the sweet looking little girl and tried to compare it to the rugged tomboy that he knew. It was like a split personality.

"Her Dad took that picture and she had it tacked up on her bedroom wall. I took it, thinking I could use it for blackmail one day," Naruto joked with a chuckle.

But that suddenly gave Kiba a wonderful idea, "Hey, do you think she'd go on a date with me?"

Naruto just about choked on air, "W-what?! Are you crazy? She'd punch your lights out first!"

"Not if I have this!" Kiba lifted the photo for Naruto to see.

The blonde shook his head vigorously, "No, Kiba! If she sees that or you tell her, I'm dead! She'll kill me for telling you! It's a secret only Daisuke, his family, Tsunade, Iruka and I know! It can't get out!"

Kiba shrugged, standing, "I'll just say I found the picture and I put 2 and 2 together on my own. She'll have to go on a date with me!"

Naruto sighed… things were never that black and white with Ryder…

…

"YOU WHAT?!" Ryder screamed, steam seeming to come from her ears. Her face was bright red, her fists clenched, teeth grit. She just couldn't believe it! Kiba had stolen her picture from Naruto's room, figured out her secret and now wanted to blackmail a _date_ from her!? What was the world coming to!?

Kiba shrugged, rubbing his abused ears, "I just want to go out on a date with you… as a girl, not a boy."

Ryder shook her head wildly, sending her silver hair flying. "Do you realize how hard it's been trying to keep my identity secret from everyone? Now you want me to be the girl I _hate_ being?"

"Just one date!"

"Kiba! I already went on a date! I went to the stupid Sanno festival with Ino and I was so stressed by the end because she was trying to kiss me that I ran to Daisuke's and passed out! She is _still_ bothering me about going out with her! I don't _ever_ want to go through this again!"

Kiba stared at her open mouthed. He had known the _boy_ Ryder had gone on a date but he didn't know with whom. And it was also blown into a different perspective now that he knew her secret. The thought of Ryder going on a date with a girl just made him want to fall into a fit of giggles. But he held his composure.

"Ok, well I won't try to kiss you and I won't take you to a festival or anything like that. Just one date. I want to see the girl Ryder!" he pleaded.

Ryder groaned in despair and flopped back onto Daisuke's bed. They were at his place for a study day with Daisuke and Naruto but the 2 boys were down in the living room. Kiba had cornered her up here for his secret little plan. What was she to do? She could plead and beg not to go on the date but then he might give out her photo or ask for something worse than a date! If she refused then it would have the same consequences.

She was going to kill Naruto for having this photo of her out where people could see it. She had let him have it purely out of her trust (and secret crush) for him. And _now_ look! Kiba had found it! This was all Naruto's fault!

"Fine! One date! But you don't get to tell anyone about it! And don't ever ask me again! Got it?" She demanded, standing again and glaring at Kiba as best she could. She was a tiny bit taller than Kiba since girls grew earlier than boys did but Kiba was unfazed by her intimidating stature.

"Deal! But you have to be completely girly, a Daddy's Little Girl, like in your photo!"

"Fine!" She growled, punched him in the arm, and stormed out of the room back downstairs to yell at Naruto.

Kiba rubbed his arm and grumbled under his breath but secretly he didn't really mind… 'Blinded by love' would be the expression here.

…

Later that year, when they were all another year older, the 4 friends were playing a good, friendly game of basketball during a Saturday. It had been quite some time since Kiba had blackmailed Ryder into a date. Kiba had admitted to being head-over-heels in love with the girl Ryder and tried to kiss her at the end, against his promise, but Ryder quickly took care of that. Kiba was bed ridden for 2 days. And needless to say, Naruto had gotten a good beating for letting Kiba find out but (not strangely) Ryder had let Naruto keep that picture of her.

While Ryder and Naruto were on a good winning streak, Naruto's cell phone rang. It confused Naruto for a moment as his cell phone rarely rang. Iruka had given it to the 14-year old for emergencies so most of the time it just sat in Naruto's backpack collecting dust.

He stepped out of their 2-on-2 game, leaving Ryder to fend for herself against Daisuke and Kiba, and fished the phone from his bag. Looking at the caller ID, he didn't recognize the number and had second thoughts about answering but there was a voice in the back of his mind that said it was important and that he should answer. So he did.

"Hello?"

"Yes, is this uh…" the sound of paper being shifted and moved, "Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Hai, who is this?" his curiosity was building by the second.

"This is Takero Ami from the Kaigen No Yume General Hospital. Umino Iruka is your guardian, correct?"

Naruto's heart suddenly filled with dread and he nearly stopped breathing. What happened? "Y-yes, he is. Is he ok? What's going on?"

"There was a bad car accident. A careless driver hit the drivers' side of Umino-San's car. He is still alive but he needs to go into surgery to save his life. You are listed in his file as one of the first contacts so I phoned you to inform you of his condition. Unfortunately, though, his condition will worsen if he doesn't have this surgery and there is a possibility that he may pass away…"

"Then do the surgery!" Naruto nearly screamed into the phone, jumping to his feet.

"I-I'm afraid it isn't that simple, Uzumaki-San… you see, the procedure is a very expensive one and his insurance doesn't cover it… "

"I don't care! Put him in surgery and I'll find some way to get the money, ok? I'm on my way right now to see him," Naruto grabbed his bag, shoved his phone in his pocket and jumped on his bike with tears in his eyes.

Ryder, Daisuke and Kiba all called after Naruto but he was long gone, only Iruka on his mind. He had lost his parents already… he didn't know what he'd do if he lost Iruka too…

…

He was sleeping. Just sleeping. He wasn't dead. The doctors promised him that the surgery had saved his life and he was just resting. Naruto had to convince himself of this. He had to stop freaking himself out. Iruka was alive and was going to get better. Even despite Iruka's lack of insurance and coverage, the hospital had performed the surgery at Naruto's request. When Naruto had asked how much it was, they showed the young boy the medical bill. The poor blonde nearly fainted when he saw the large sum.

There was no way Iruka could ever come up with that amount. The only other option was for Naruto to get a job and pay back that sum in increments. So while Iruka was sleeping peacefully, Naruto pleaded and begged and convinced the hospital to let him pay them in bi-weekly sums until the amount was paid off.

Only problem was, he had no job. So that same day, as the hospital visiting hours ended, Naruto went job hunting. Having no previous job or experience in anything other than a trouble maker, it was difficult. Every place he went to turned him down, not interested in having a young trouble maker as part of their staff.

That was, until our poor, worried, sad, tired and stressed Uzumaki stumbled upon a fancy little coffee shop called Servir Café. It was a gorgeous, American type building with a red brick front and black awnings over the large windows. The waiters inside were dressed up like butlers in black tuxedo type clothing. Black dress pants, white long sleeve shirts, black vests and ties, all tidy, neat and polite. It wasn't really Naruto's type of place but there was just something about the place he really liked.

The square, mahogany tables were spread out nicely with padded, black velvet chairs and the booths were similarly decorated. The order counter was beautifully displayed and women dressed in formal maids outfits; cute, black ruffled skirts reaching their knees, white stockings, black shoes, white blouses and black bowties with a white ruffled headband to hold back their hair. Despite the formality of the place and fine artwork, it seemed a friendly atmosphere and Naruto felt excited at the idea of working here.

He approached the counter and asked one of the girls if the manager was in that day. With a bright smile, she led him to the back room and into an office. Once inside, Naruto tried to introduce himself as formally and properly as he possibly could and tried very hard to seem confident. He asked if there was a job opening.

At first the manager, a tall, thick and intimidating man in a tailored suit with greying hair, seemed very hesitant and wary of Naruto.

"Do you have any experience at all serving customers or making coffee?"

Chewing his bottom lip nervously, the 14-year-old shook his head. "I don't have experience at all…" he sighed, hanging his head. He felt defeated. There was no way anyone would hire him… he was _never _going to be able to pay back the hospital at this rate.

"Why do you want to work here at Servir Café?" the manager, Usui Takumi, asked curiously. He saw the look of secret despair in the sky blue eyes.

Naruto hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should tell Usui-San about his predicament. "Well… my guardian, Iruka, was just in a car crash and needed to have surgery to save his life but his had no coverage for it… I asked the hospital to let me pay them back in increments but in order to do that I gotta get a job," Naruto explained in a small voice.

Usui-San felt sadness for the boy. How brave for him to get a job and pay back the hospital himself to save his guardian. He couldn't turn him away. With a warm smile, the old man extended a hand to Naruto and the boy took it, confused. "Welcome, to Servir Café. Let's get you a uniform and start your training."

…

"I'm sorry, Naruto, I can't be there… my parents are taking me to go see the opera with them tonight…"

Naruto sighed dejectedly. Iruka was coming home from the hospital tonight and he wanted Ryder and Daisuke there to stay and help and keep him company. Daisuke was stuck helping at the Inn, Ryder had the Opera to go to… who was left?

"Maybe ask Kiba or Hinata…I'm sure they'd love to be there with you… but tell Iruka I say hi and to get well soon, ok?" with that, Ryder took off towards home. Or rather, Daisuke's to change first, _then_ home.

Though, on her way home she ran into Ino. With a frustrated sigh, Ryder slumped down a bit. "Hi, Yamanaka-San."

A flirty giggle, "I thought I told you to call me Ino!" the blonde fell in step with Ryder. "How was your day at school today?"

"It was alright. How was yours?" Ryder was feeling rather exhausted and tight lipped today. She had been feeling rather cranky lately and it didn't help that Kiba still bothered her about going on another date and her parents wanted to come see her at ballet. Things were getting stressful.

"Oh, you know! The usual. Lame teachers, stupid school work. So what are you doing tonight? Because I was thinking-"

"I already have plans tonight."

"Oh that's too bad. I had tickets to the high school baseball game and I thought we could-"

With an angry sigh, Ryder stopped, turned to face Ino and finally snapped. "Look, Yamanaka-San, I don't like you. I went to the festival with you but that was the end of it! I am not interested in you at all. In fact, you're quite annoying. Your voice, your mannerisms, your flirting, your giggling… Please leave me alone! I don't know how much more obvious I need to be with you!"

Ino stared at Ryder, aghast. He had never been that mean to her before! How cruel! "You're such a jerk!" Ino cried, tears in her blue eyes as she ran home.

Finally! Ryder was finally rid of Ino! A small, tiny part of her felt guilty for saying those things. But a much bigger part of her told her that she had bigger things to worry about. Ino just didn't measure up to the amount of issues Ryder had to deal with at the moment.

…

Gaara was quite unhappy. Since he started dealing with Orochimaru again, behind Temari and Kankuros' backs, life had gotten infinitely more complicated and he regretted it. Was it too much to ask to just have a normal life? To have friends and do good in school, not deal with gangs and drugs and bullying?

The little red-head thought it was extremely unfair. He had gone through so much and he knew better and yet he still listened to the snake and let himself be controlled. How silly. Naïve. There had to be a way out of this.

That's why he loved the days where his brother Kankuro would come pick him up and take him out for a movie or games. Kankuro often brought his friend, Yahiko, along. He was in his brothers' class. Kankuro, being four years older than Gaara, was in Grade 11. He was this tall, obnoxious and short-tempered kid with spiky orange hair and bright blue eyes with, what Gaara thought, was a perverted smile. But Yahiko was alright. He was funny and loved to spend time with Gaara.

On this particular day, Yahiko and Kankuro were in a heated argument when they came up to the Junior High to pick up Gaara. They had plans to go to the arcade and eat ice cream and just hang out till it was time to go home. But their conversation interested Gaara; rather, what he could hear of it anyways.

"…know how long it took us to get away! How could you just…"

"I didn't know! Honest, I never knew what he did with the information…"

"…lucky I'm even bringing you along… Gaara likes you…"

"Kankuro! Yahiko!" Gaara called out, running up to the pair. They dropped their conversation as the boy got close. Kankuro looked quite angry and annoyed while Yahiko looked guilty and sad but trying to hide it and look happy for Gaara.

"Hey buddy! You ready?"

Gaara nodded eagerly but couldn't help the feeling that what they were discussing had something to do with him.

…

Daisuke sighed and glared at Sakaeguchi. The boy was just not cooperative at all lately! Since the Sanno Festival and they had kissed, Sakaeguchi hasn't been the same. Granted, the boy had kept to his promise and hadn't gone back to Nemui Inn to bother 'Delilah', but now the depression was affecting him and now it was affecting the baseball team.

Sakaeguchi played 2nd Base and a very important role. But because his love-sick mind was elsewhere, he was constantly letting the opposing team slip by him. His mind was in the clouds no matter how desperately Daisuke and the others tried to keep him in line and focused. This was now going on the 3rd game that they were losing because of this! It was frustrating Daisuke to no end!

There had to be some way to solve this! But he already knew the solution. Sakaeguchi was depressed because he wasn't allowed to see Delilah anymore. And while Daisuke tried his damndest not to act awkward around Sakaeguchi, he still felt extremely confused and put off from his experience. When Sakaeguchi had kissed him, he had actually kissed back and he still hadn't quite figured out why.

He liked Sakaeguchi. He was a good friend and, when he was paying attention, he was a great baseball player. But now these new stirrings… new feelings… were foreign and, quite frankly, unwanted. Daisuke didn't like being torn between 2 things. As Delilah, he had quite enjoyed himself with Sakaeguchi but then the Daisuke part of him, the real part, wanted to know if Sakaeguchi would treat him the same way if he knew 'Delilah' was Daisuke. Would he be treated with the same kindness and love?

He almost didn't want to know. But the Mihoshi Tigers were suffering because Daisuke had stopped playing 'Delilah' for Sakaeguchi. Would they stand a better chance if he were to don this persona again?

So that night, Daisuke retreated into his room, locked the door so his pesky siblings wouldn't bother him, and dialled Sakaeguchi's home number. A girl picked up the phone and Daisuke assumed it was his sister, Nana, so he asked for Yuuto in his girl voice. She happily handed the phone over to Yuuto, teasing him that "There's a _giiirrrlll_ on the phone!"

Daisuke blushed darkly scratching nervously at the thin scar that spanned across the bridge of his nose and waited for the boy to come on the phone.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Sakae- er... Yuuto-Kun? It's Delilah from Nemui Inn…"

"D-Delilah-Chan!? What a surprise! What brings you to call me?" and suddenly the depressed Sakaeguchi was gone, replaced by the excitable, happy-go-lucky boy that Daisuke remembered.

But then the guilt started setting in… how long would he be able to put up this façade?

…

"You called him?!" Ryder asked, a huge smile on her face at Daisuke's discomfort.

A dark blush spread across his freckled cheeks, "What else was I supposed to do?!" he retorted defensively. "The team was suffering because of me so I had to fix it! We won the game today because of it!"

"Well, yeah… talking to him is one thing, Dai… but arranging another date with him? I'm starting to think you really _want_ to go out with Sakaeguchi," Naruto teased. Jokingly of course. But the blonde didn't realize just how accurate that jab was. Daisuke grit his teeth and looked away guiltily.

The pause of silence alerted Ryder and Naruto. The two friends glanced at each other then back at Daisuke. "Dai… do you?" Ryder asked hesitantly.

Daisuke shook his head and ran his fingers through his forest green hair, "I…I dunno…" he replied softly.

"Do you like him like that? I mean… _like him_ like him?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know!" Daisuke threw his arms up in rarely shown frustration. He paced his room, his muddy brown eyes trained on the floor. "I don't know… and what if I do? What does that mean? Is that even ok?" he murmured, feeling like he was going mad. He just didn't understand the implications of the situation.

"Well… I think that if you really like him, Dai, then tell him. But you should also tell him that _you_ are Delilah… before things get too complicated, you know?" Ryder suggested quietly. She understood that part of it at least.

"What if he doesn't understand and he hates me? What if he doesn't like me back? Or what if he does? What does that mean?" Daisuke started panicking slightly before Naruto grabbed his shoulders, stopping his pacing.

"Daisuke… regardless of whether he likes you or not, no matter which way he takes it, you know Ryder and I are here for you. I for one don't care if you like a guy; you're still just Daisuke to me…" Naruto explained in a firm voice. For a moment he sounded older than just 14. Though, since Iruka was in that accident and Naruto got a job to help pay the bills, Naruto had changed quite a bit.

Ryder put her hand softly on Daisuke's shoulder with a reassuring squeeze. "I agree. I don't care who you like, Dai… you're still my best friend."

With tears in his tormented eyes, Daisuke smiled, "Thanks guys."

…

**Ah… the angst… I seem to be eerily good at that…**

**Anyways, YAY for an update! I hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long. Thank you to those who have favorited and reviewed the last chapter but I would REALLY like to see MORE REVIEWS! **

**Please let me know what you guys think, ok?**

**Special thanks, as always, to my dear Bubblez… these chapters just wouldn't be the way they are without him!**

**READ & REVIEW**

**Love you all,**

**TLC**


	7. Building Up and Breaking Down

Growing Up With Dreams

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters. They belong to Misashi Kishimoto. As well, I do not own any of the characters from The Big Windup! They belong to Asa Higuchi.

**WARNING:** **YAOI. Boyxboy**. Don't like it, don't read it. As well, we have changed some of the characters from Naruto and Big Windup. Names and faces will remain the same but ages, personalities, occupations, etc will be altered. **THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING! **Also, a majority of the cities are real cities in Japan. The ones located on the Island, Yumenoshima, however, are fake. So the Island itself and the cities, Shi Yume, Kaigen no Yume, Chīsana Yume, and Nōmin no Yume and the Mountain, Hoshi No Miyama, etc, and anything else on the Island is fake.

**EXTREME DRAMA!**

**Chapter Seven – Breaking Down and Building Up**

Grade Nine was exciting. Ryder's 15th birthday was soon and she was so excited. Not to mention that baseball season started up again and she was just getting ready for an early season game at Daisuke's place. Dai and Naruto were just in the other room getting ready. She could hardly hold in her excitement! Things were going so great. She had been able to make it through 2 years of Junior High as a boy and no one suspected a thing! And there was only one mishap with Kiba finding out her identity.

She had also dodged a bullet with her parents. They had wanted to watch her Ballet recital, which was actual a hip-hop competition for talent scouts to pick out those with the most promise of getting good scholarships. Ryder hadn't been chosen because she was still so young but she wasn't disheartened. She was a great dancer and her school was confident that she would only get better. During the competition though, when her parents were supposed to show up and Ryder thought she was toast, a business meeting came up and they had to cancel.

Ryder was ok with that. Her lies could go on for a little longer. And baseball had been going great. Tsunade was keeping her promise of letting her continue baseball as long as her grades stayed up. Ryder worked hard and she was managing 70-85% in all her classes. She was incredibly proud of herself.

And now an early season game. Good signs everywhere! Nothing could bring down this rough, tough, sturdy and independent girl! With an excited squeal, she bounced up and down in front of the mirror.

Then she froze in shock. Did she really just see what she thought she saw? It was slight and hardly noticeable but… it was still definitely there… she jumped up and down again just to make sure.

Yeah, it was definitely there! Her chest bounced with her jump. Her breasts were growing! Ryder was suddenly filled with despair and let out an agonized cry. No! She had gone this long without any female distractions! Why now?! Why here?! Now that they started, they weren't going to stop! This was terrible! Her world was over!

She knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Granted a lot of the girls she went to school with already had budding breasts larger than hers but she had always just figured that because she was athletic that it slowed their growth. And she was perfectly ok with that. But you can't avoid puberty for forever.

Ryder turned away from the mirror, her green eyes burning with tears. What was she going to do? How was she going to hide this?

A knock sounded on the door. "Ryder, are you ok? We heard you yell," Naruto's voice came through the wood.

"N-no, I'm not ok… don't come in… I think I'm gonna have to sit this game out, guys," Ryder murmured, her voice shaking. This was just awful.

"Sit out? You can't sit out! You were so excited for this game! Just tell us what's wrong," Daisuke chimed in.

Ryder shook her head and ran her fingers through her short silver hair. "I-I can't… It's not, uhm, it's not something I can tell you guys…"

"Just tell us! Nothing _ever_ stops you from playing baseball!" Naruto persisted.

"You don't understand!" Ryder wailed, tears streaming down her soft cheeks.

"Tell us!"

"It's a _girl_ problem!" Ryder yelled, getting upset and frustrated.

"What kind?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, I don't want-"

"We're best friends, Ryder, just tell us!" Daisuke insisted.

In anger and irritation, Ryder ripped open the door and glared petulantly through her tears. "I've got _boobs_, ok? You happy now!? " She yelled, slamming the door in their stunned faces.

"Boobs? Where? _Ouch!_" Naruto hissed as Daisuke elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ryder it's no big deal. They are still small and not really noticeable! No one will notice you out in the field." Daisuke tried to soothe her fears.

It didn't work. "No! I noticed them! I know they're there! And I'm not leaving here until I can figure out how to hide them!"

True to her stubborn word, Ryder wouldn't leave the bathroom despite the boys trying desperately to convince her. It was getting late and the game was going to start soon and they were running out of hope.

Until Daisuke's older sister, Saya, came home. She heard the yelling and asked Daisuke what was going on. Once explained, the Innkeeper smiled sympathetically and went to the bathroom, knocking quietly.

"Ryder, sweetie? It's me, Saya. I know how to help you. You gotta let me in though," the 20 year old cooed through the door.

There was a silent pause and Ryder cracked open the door, her green eyes puffy and red from crying. "You can help?" the tomboy asked desperately.

Saya nodded her green head and smiled warmly. "Wanna let me in so I can show you?"

Ryder nodded and stepped back, letting the older sister in. The door closed again and Naruto and Daisuke were left waiting outside, hopeful that Saya could help the frantic Ryder. They could hear giggles and hushed voices, the rustle of clothing and the open and close of cupboards and drawers.

A few minutes later, Ryder emerged, a considerable amount happier than before. Daisuke and Naruto looked her up and down, not seeing anything different from before. "So? How did you solve your problem?" Naruto asked, staring at her chest.

Ryder blushed slightly and looked back at Saya while Daisuke cuffed Naruto upside the head. "A thick tensor bandage will hold them flat for quite some time. She shouldn't have to worry about her breasts showing unless they grow too large. But at the rate she's going, she won't need to worry until after she graduates High School," Saya explained and ruffled Ryder's already messy hair.

Ryder grinned, "Thanks, Saya. You're a life saver!"

"Great, I'm glad it all worked out! But now we are gonna be late! Let's go!" Daisuke tugged Ryder's arm and the trio thundered down the stairs.

Crisis averted. For now.

…

It was no shock to the Mihoshi Tigers that they won the game. They had been practicing hard and they had a great Captain. More often than not, Daisuke led the team to a great victory. They had won 7 to 4 by the 6th Inning.

Though the victory was short lived. For Daisuke anyways. During the entire game, Sakaeguchi had been happily rambling on about Delilah and how she had called him and they talked often. How beautiful she was. They went on a date together. The boy was love struck.

Leaving Daisuke feeling guiltier than ever. Ryder was right. This needed to end. Daisuke had to tell the truth. He couldn't keep lying. Especially now that he wouldn't have to work at the Inn any more because his youngest sister, Subaki, was now old enough to start working at Nemui Inn and the female tradition could carry on.

Yuuto deserved to know the truth and why he wouldn't be able to see Delilah any more. Delilah was dead now. She had no more use. So as the team showered, changed and left, Daisuke waited till his opportune moment and pulled Yuuto aside.

"I need to talk to you for a minute," Daisuke explained, his stomach sinking already. How was Yuuto going to react? Would he take it ok? Would he think Dai was joking? Would he hate Dai and never talk to him again? Daisuke desperately hoped it wasn't the latter. He really enjoyed Yuuto's company and friendship. He wanted to continue being friends. He didn't know what he would do if he never wanted to see him again… and he could only hope that Yuuto wouldn't spread the word about it.

Daisuke looked around, making extra doubly sure that no one else was in the change rooms. Then he faced Yuuto and took a deep breath.

"What's up, Kazumi-kun?" Yuuto asked cheerfully, his brown eyes sparkling.

"Sakaeguchi-kun, I have something important to tell you. I only ask that you try not to hate me after… it's a really big secret and I know I should have told you earlier about it but I was scared and embarrassed and I didn't know how to explain it and I thought you'd be better off but now I see that it's going too far and I figured you deserved to know!" Daisuke rambled, panicking, in one breath.

"Calm down! You're gonna hurt yourself," Yuuto joked, a cute grin on his young face. "I'm not going to hate you, Kazumi-kun. You're my friend, my school-mate and my Captain."

"You can't promise that," Daisuke sighed, his heart hammering painfully in his chest.

"Well, I can promise I will listen and consider whatever it is. So tell me, what's got you so tense?"

The green-haired boy fingered the Band-Aid over his nose that covered his scar. "Well… uhm… you know Delilah from Nemui Inn & Hot Springs?" he started off slow.

"Of course. Why?"

"I-I… don't know how else to say this… but, uhm, Yuuto-kun, I am Delilah…" then he cringed and waited with baited breath.

Yuuto only laughed, "Good one, Kazumi-kun!"

Daisuke deflated slightly but persisted. "No, really. That's my family's Inn. My mother owns it and my sister, Saya, is training to take it over. But for the longest time, they were short handed for room cleaners so I had to help. But of course it's a traditional, female run Inn so I had to dress as a girl to work there," he explained, his heart now thrumming loudly in his ears and his stomach was in his throat.

Yuuto stopped smiling and a flicker of doubt settled onto his face. "That's… that's just silly. Stop pulling my leg."

"Think about it, Yuuto-kun! I have green hair, she has green hair. I have brown eyes, she has brown eyes. She's my height. She's my size. She is _me_, Yuuto-kun!" Daisuke said, growing more and more fearful by the minute.

"How do you know what she looks like? And just because you guys look the same doesn't mean you are her. Now stop this, this joke isn't funny," Yuuto frowned.

"I know what she looks like because I am her, Yuuto-kun. Here, look," Daisuke reached into his back pack and pulled out his glasses and put them on. "She wears glasses. I wear glasses. They are the same. And I altered my voice like this: Good Afternoon, Yuuto-kun, how are you today?" Daisuke played up his girl voice, trying desperately to prove who he was.

That got through to Yuuto. The brown haired boy stepped back in shock, his eyes wide and disbelieving. "D-Delilah-Chan? Y-you really are her?"

Daisuke sighed and took the glasses off, nodding. "Yes."

Yuuto shook his head and turned away for a moment. "S-so… I kissed_ you_ at the Sanno Festival 2 years ago?"

"Yes," Daisuke admitted, a deep blush covering his cheeks. He fingered his Band-Aid over his nose again nervously.

"And it was you who went on dates with me… is that why you asked me to stop bothering you before?"

"Yes, that's why."

"Then why did you call me to go out again? Why did you lead me on?" Yuuto turned on Daisuke angrily, staring the boy down.

"Y-you… you were so depressed and sad… I felt bad. And your baseball was suffering so I thought it would help to-"

"You thought it would _help?!_ So the Great Captain Kazumi was concerned for the baseball team. How thoughtful of you. Yet you played me by pretending to be a girl and leading me on to believe that… dear gods… I _kissed_ you, Kazumi! And you continued the façade? What the _hell _is _wrong_ with you?" Yuuto's voice slowly rose, louder and louder as he considered everything that Daisuke being Delilah meant.

"Yuuto-kun, I'm so sorry. I feel so guilty about it all but I'm telling you now! Ok, yes, I lied to you about it and that was wrong but I didn't know what else to do! You wouldn't stop bothering me!"

"Don't you _dare_ turn this around on me, Kazumi! And don't call me Yuuto-kun!"

Daisuke's heart broke slightly, it was hard to breathe and his stomach dropped down to his feet. His hands were shaking so bad. This was going a lot worse than he thought…

"Look, Sakaeguchi-kun, I'm sorry I lied. I really am. But I want you to know that everything we did together, the games, the talks, the dates, everything else is true. I'm still the same person. Everything Delilah did was all me. I love arcade games, I'm smart, I enjoy cinnamon buns, I'm a terrible dancer, I love fireworks and I know that hanging out with you was the most fun I've had in a long time!"

Sakaeguchi shook his head and closed his angry brown eyes. "Are you gay, or something?"

That stunned Dai for moment. He didn't know. Was he? He liked hanging with the guys and he didn't mind girls. He found them loud and annoying but still attractive. But it wasn't really anything he had thought through before. Well, other than Dai admitting to Ryder and Naruto that he was going on dates with Sakaeguchi and they teased him about liking it. He had thought about it a little then. But not thoroughly. How do you figure that out?

"I-I don't know. But does it really matter? I'm telling you all this so that I don't lose your friendship, Sakaeguchi-kun!" Daisuke's voice wavered slightly. His chest felt heavy and he could hardly breathe.

Sakaeguchi rubbed his forehead, frowning with his eyes closed and sighed. "No, Kazumi. I can't deal with this." Sakaeguchi picked up his backpack and brushed past Daisuke without looking at him.

Daisuke stood still, staring at where the boy was just standing, not moving, scarcely breathing, shaking and disbelieving. Did he just lose a friend and teammate? Yes. Was telling him everything wrong? Maybe. But he couldn't take that back now. It had to be said. It had to be dealt with and it was. It just didn't go the way Daisuke had hoped for.

The change room door opened and closed as Sakaeguchi left without another word and Dai fell to his knees, still staring straight ahead with tears in his muddy brown eyes. What was he going to do now? He didn't know. It was hard to think when your heart was breaking apart in your chest.

Ryder saw Sakaeguchi leave looking angry. Her heart sank. This must be worse than she thought. She quietly re-entered the change rooms and spotted Dai on his knees, not moving. "Dai? How did it go?" she asked softly, moving close to him.

Daisuke shook his head and ran his fingers through his forest green hair. "Not great," he murmured.

"Is he mad at you? He'll come around Dai." She put her hand on his shoulder and knelt beside him.

He shook his head again, "No. You didn't see his eyes. You didn't hear what he said. He said he couldn't deal with this. He's really hurt, Ryder. I think I just lost him."

Ryder rubbed his back soothingly and sighed. "Dai don't regret telling him. He needed to know. However he takes it later, he needs to deal with it. But don't regret telling him. It was the right thing to do. You couldn't be Delilah forever, especially since little Subaki is now there and you don't have to be at the Inn any more. He had to find out one way or another."

"I know. I know that but that knowledge doesn't make it any better. Let's just go home," he sighed, wiping his tears away and getting back to his feet. Ryder followed him out, feeling bad for her best friend.

At least he had to courage to admit his secret… Ryder? She was still living her double life and had no plans on telling any one, especially not her parents. She admired Daisuke for being so brave.

…

It didn't take long for the Tigers to notice the tension in the team. Sakaeguchi was missing the next game. And the game after that. And the game after that. For a few days, no body even saw him at school. But when he did start going back, he refused to talk to anybody. And he expressly ignored Daisuke despite being in a few of the same classes. This didn't help Daisuke any. Daisuke brooded, despite Ryder's and Naruto's best efforts to cheer him up.

Daisuke was broken down and it would take a lot to build him back up.

But because of Sakaeguchi's absence from the team, Daisuke made the decision to bring on more members. They were struggling. So Hanai Azusa and Oki Kazutoshi joined. Hanai, bald, very confident and athletic, took Sakaeguchi's place as Second Baseman. Oki, the typical Japanese with dark brown hair and deep brown eyes with a wide nose and square jaw, took First Baseman.

The two other boys were great additions to the team, there was no doubt, but Daisuke avoided looking at Hanai at Second Base unless he had to. He didn't like not seeing Sakaeguchi there…

…

"Where are we going, Aniki?" Sasuke asked, pulling on his shoes and coat.

"Just going out to the mall. I thought we could hang out for a while," Itachi grinned down at his young 15 year old brother. It had been a little while since they had done anything with each other. So the 19 year old drove them to the mall. They hadn't been there very long when Sasuke spotted striking red hair and sea foam green eyes that he recognized.

He knew Shikkari Gaara from the police station when they were younger and from school. Apparently he was a little demon. He ran around bullying and terrorizing students and teachers alike. He had been suspended and expelled from several schools. Earned himself the nickname 'One Tailed Demon' whatever that meant. Sasuke also knew that Gaara was the ward of the most powerful man on Yumenoshima, Orochimaru, CEO of Nāga Corporation.

When Itachi had his back turned, looking at some cool spy stuff, Sasuke slipped away unnoticed and approached Gaara. He didn't recognize the older boy Gaara was with but it didn't matter. Sasuke had an idea and he wanted to pursue it. He always got what he wanted.

"Hey, Shikkari-kun," Sasuke called out to Gaara. The redheaded boy, startled, looked around to see Sasuke coming towards him. He knew Sasuke. Sasuke was a bully at school and walked around like he owned everything. Gaara didn't really like him. Shocked would be an understatement.

"Uh, hi, Uchiha-kun. What's up?" Gaara glanced over at his brother Kankuro. Kankuro was busy looking at some wooden puppets in a store nearby.

"Oh nothing. Just out with my brother. What are you up to?" Sasuke really hated idle chitchat but he figured if he just asked too directly, Gaara wouldn't answer.

"Me too." Gaara fidgeted awkwardly. He didn't know what to say to Sasuke. A silent tension and awareness passed between them for a moment.

Then Sasuke shifted and looked back at his brother then back to Gaara. "So I uh… I heard that your Guardian was Orochimaru-San… is that true?"

Gaara instantly went on the alert. He knew from experience that anyone asking about Orochimaru was always out for bad things. Things that Gaara was trying really hard not to be a part of. "Yeah. Why?" the 15 year old asked suspiciously.

Sasuke shrugged and pushed his hands in his pockets, "Just curious. I mean, he's the most powerful man in Japan, right? I couldn't imagine why you live with your poor sister and not the rich and powerful Orochimaru." It was a bit of a backhanded way of asking but Sasuke didn't care. He wanted information.

Gaara bristled defensively. He didn't like Sasuke's tone and didn't understand what Sasuke was trying to get at. But the less info to strangers, the better. "We just didn't want to live with him any more. It wasn't the lifestyle we wanted for ourselves so my sister sacrificed a lot and worked hard to get us away and start our own lives. The rich and powerful isn't something we enjoy. It's got a lot of strings attached. Why do you want to know?" Gaara tried incredibly hard not to sound callous or mean.

A smirk crossed Sasuke's pale lips, "I don't know. I just admire him. He came from nothing and turned into a great entrepreneur and creator of the biggest and most developed science lab curing diseases worth billions of dollars. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'd like to meet him."

Disbelief. Why would anyone want to meet Orochimaru? Though, if Gaara really thought about it, people who didn't _know_ Orochimaru would probably _love_ to meet him. He was, after all, a successful, charming businessman doing great good! To normal people, Orochimaru would probably be an idol.

That was something Gaara just couldn't understand. He _knew_ Orochimaru for the true, abusive slime ball that he was and could see past the generous and smart CEO. So he couldn't really put it past Sasuke to want to meet Orochimaru. Sasuke only knew the façade that that man put on. So who was he to argue?

"I can talk to him for you, if you'd like. Get you a private meeting," Gaara begrudgingly admitted. Though doing this for Sasuke meant he would have to do something for Orochimaru in return. So Sasuke better appreciate that opportunity.

"You would do that for me?" Sasuke asked, quite shocked, though he didn't show it.

"Sure. I'll let you know next week at school. I gotta go now," Gaara said, watching his brother Kankuro come out of the shop. Sasuke watched Gaara walk away towards his brother and went back to his own brother. Itachi was just standing, leaning against the wall, watching Sasuke.

"Who was that?" Itachi asked, his voice stern and tight lipped.

Sasuke shrugged, "A kid from School."

"What were you guys talking about?"

"Just school stuff. I had a few questions." Sasuke sighed. His big brother always did this. Whenever Sasuke made new friends or tried to talk to anyone, Itachi would get all serious and inquisitive. He always seemed to take a personal interest in the people Sasuke associated with. And if Itachi didn't like who Sasuke was talking to, for some reason, that person would just disappear or never talk to Sasuke again.

It was really quite strange. Sometimes Sasuke got the feeling that Itachi was incredibly jealous of Sasuke but that would make no sense. Why would he be jealous? They were brothers. Unless it was just Itachi being overprotective. Whatever it was, Sasuke always hated the 20 questions from Nancy Drew.

"Do you hang out with him a lot? Do you know him well?"

Sasuke smiled affectionately and shook his head, "No, Aniki, he's not even a friend. He's an acquaintance from school. Now let's grab some lunch."

…

"No, he's _my_ boyfriend!"

"No, he's _mine!_ Who would want a pink haired freak like you?"

"Oh, like you're one to talk! Miss Daddy Issues, look at you! Who would want a broken skank like _you!?_"

The screaming continued. It grew louder and louder and escalated, drawing student's attention to the cat fight that was about to take place.

And who was fighting but our favourite girls, Sakura and Karin. Sakura screamed as Karin grabbed her long pink hair and yanked, making the girl stumble. Sakura clawed and kicked the red-head, breaking her grip long enough to shove her into a wall and punch her face.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" the bystanders chanted, watching the fun.

Who was this fight about? Take a wild guess. The quickly escalating man-whore of the school. Uchiha Sasuke.

"Girls! Enough. You're making me look bad," Sasuke sighed, not interested in why they were fighting.

The girls immediately released each other and cooed around Sasuke. "We're sorry Sasuke-kun! We just get jealous."

"I don't care. Either get over it or leave me alone; those are your choices," Sasuke growled, glaring at the girls and walking off to his class. The crowd that had assembled to watch the fight dispersed sadly; they wanted to see the fight continue.

The girls sighed and glared at each other. "I'm not leaving him," Sakura spat, fixing her long hair back into position.

"Neither am I. But until he chooses one of us, lets call a truce," Karin glared, fixing her bent glasses.

"Fine," Sakura agreed with a huff and stormed off to her class.

Challenge accepted.

…

"Are you serious? You want _Sasuke_ to come over?" Gaara asked with scepticism. He couldn't believe this! He introduces Sasuke to Orochimaru last week and suddenly the two are the best of friends. Thick as thieves.

"Well yes. The young Uchiha certainly has a knack for reading people. Manipulating. Lying. He's got great leadership skills too. He knows how to keep men in line. I could use a boy like him here." Orochimaru explained, leaning back in his office chair in his white tailored suit with a confident smirk on his pale lips.

"He's going to regret doing anything for you. Once he sees who you are. Who you _really_ are," Gaara spat, his bright eyes flashing with anger.

"Oh then you don't know him very well then, little Gaara. I see in him a tiny spark of me. With enough coaxing and training, he'll be just as powerful and feared as I am. Easy. He's already got the will and the want. The drive. So it'll be easy to mould him. Unlike you. You're too hard headed and stubborn. You don't listen well."

Gaara growled, enraged by Orochimaru's completely flippant attitude towards him. "Fine! Then have him! Do what you want but don't _ever_ contact me again! I'm done with you!"

"How sad. But an unfortunate sacrifice to be made. I'll see you around, Gaara-kun."

Gaara turned and stormed out of Orochimaru's office, leaving that snake and all his damned plans and lies. Sasuke could have him. Gaara wanted nothing to do with it! Good riddance! They deserved each other! They were both cowardly bullies!

Turning down one of the hallways, Gaara winced slightly at a scream he heard come from one of the rooms to his left. But he wouldn't stop. He learned a long time ago to never stop and look. It was better that way. Just out side the building, Gaara ran into Sasuke.

"Hey, Gaara-kun, are you coming back? Orochimaru-San and I have some plans to-"

"Fuck off, Uchiha! I'm never coming back and don't talk to me again!" Gaara snapped, walking away without looking back. He could imagine a stupid, stunned look on that boys' pretty face and that made Gaara a little happier. Stupid Sasuke. Stupid Orochimaru. Gaara had better things to do!

…

"Naruto, I'm ok, really," Iruka chuckled as Naruto tried his best to cater to Iruka's every need. Since coming home from the hospital just a few weeks ago, Naruto had been Iruka's shadow. He had done all the laundry, kept up on the dishes, was gradually learning to cook meals, made the beds, kept the house clean, and still went to School full time and on top of all that, he was working a part time job.

"Just making sure, 'Ruka. Are you comfortable? Do you want some water? Are you hungry?"

"Naruto! Really, I'm fine!" Iruka grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and sat the boy down next to him. "Now, tell me about you. What's going on?"

Naruto sighed and leaned his blonde head on Iruka's shoulder, needing the comfort. "A lot, 'Ruka. A lot is going on. It just seems like the older I get, the more complicated things get, you know?"

Iruka smiled affectionately and nodded, wrapping an arm around Naruto's shoulders. "Daisuke has been super depressed since he told Sakaeguchi-kun about his secret. He won't talk to anyone, nothing cheers him up. And he's our captain, so it's really hard. Did you know he even failed a test? He _never_ fails tests, 'Ruka! He's a genius! For him to fail is _huge!_"

That was true. Daisuke rarely ever got below 80% in any of his subjects. The kid was a prodigy. "What else is bothering you?" Iruka asked patiently.

"Well… I noticed something has gotten into Sasuke. He's changing. I mean, he was always a mean bully but now… I don't know. It's like something came over him. He started smoking just last week… and from what I've heard, he's started sleeping around. He's dating both Sakura-Chan and Karin-Chan. Just the other day they got into a fist fight over him and he broke it up, saying they were making _him_ look bad. I just don't like what I see," Naruto sighed, closing his sky blue eyes.

Iruka frowned and pondered this for a moment. That was indeed bad news. Sasuke was definitely going down a bad path but there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. And it wasn't something Naruto should be worrying about, especially after everything Sasuke had done to the poor boy. "You can't worry about his problems, Naruto. It isn't your concern what he does. I know it sucks but he ignores you. You don't exist to him so just let it go. He will learn his own lessons in his own time."

"I know. It's just really hard to see someone put themselves through that." Naruto pulled away from Iruka and leaned back against the couch. "And poor Ryder. She just started growing boobs and she's so freaked out about it. I didn't even notice though. There's nothing there. I don't think she has anything to worry about."

Iruka chuckled and shook his head. "Regardless of what you might think, Naruto, Ryder-kun is going through a really hard time. I think she's gotten so used to being a 'boy' that now that she is developing into a girl, she doesn't know how to deal with it. Getting breasts is just the start. They will get bigger and harder to hide; therefore her secret is in bigger trouble. Then she will get her period. Her voice will change and it won't sound like a young boys' anymore. It will sound like a young girls'. Things are going to get worse before they get better. At least, until she can come to terms with being a girl."

Naruto grinned. It was still kinda funny though. "How's work going?" Iruka asked curiously. He didn't know much about Naruto's job. Naruto didn't talk about it much.

"It's going good. Usui-San is really nice to me. He gives me all the good shifts. And he pays me well for what I do. This makes it easier to pay the hospital." Naruto tensed up. Talking about the hospital was a really touchy subject for Naruto. He didn't like to think about how close to dying Iruka came.

"Speaking of which, Naruto, now that I'm back to work again, you really don't have to do that any more." Iruka sighed. Don't get him wrong, he deeply appreciated everything Naruto was doing for him and the changes Naruto had made. But Naruto should not have to shoulder a burden that big at 15. The teen needed to worry about his life and school, not a job and paying for Iruka's costly hospital bills.

"No, 'Ruka. I want to do it. Really. I like working."

"That's not what I meant. I mean, Naruto, that this isn't your responsibility. I can take over the payments now that I'm working." Of course he wouldn't tell Naruto that their budget would be really tight for a while because that would only do more harm than good. That information wasn't for teenagers.

"Iruka, I want to pay for it. I know that I haven't exactly been the easiest kid to bring up and I know how much money you have shelled out for me. Just let me do this for you, please? I promise I'll put some money away for my college but let me pay the hospital. Let me do this for you," Naruto pleaded, his big blue eyes wet with unshed tears. The two locked eyes and stared at each other silently, trying to convey their emotions.

Then Iruka sighed and relented, closing his brown eyes. "Alright, Naruto. Just promise me you won't run yourself ragged doing this. If your grades slip or you can't sleep or you don't go out with your friends, then I don't want you there any more, ok?"

Naruto grinned widely and hugged his father tightly. "Thanks, 'Ruka. I love you."

Iruka smiled and hugged his boy to him, "I love you too, Naruto."

…

**Awwe, loves **** How cute. It's about time Iruka and Naruto finally connected as 'Father and Child'. And yes, lots and lots of drama, like you were warned about. A little comedy too! Poor Ryder growing boobs! Poor Daisuke for telling his secret and losing out. Poor Gaara for being used by Orochimaru once again. Stupid Sasuke for being a huge jerk. **

**ALSO! I WILL BE CHANGING MY ACCOUNT NAME! It will NO LONGER be monzieslilneji. Please keep your eyes out for that change coming soon! **

**And as always, thanks to my Bubblez for being my ever present motivator. This story simply would not be without his help! Say thank you to Bubblez! (Thank you) **

**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!**

**All my love,**

**TLC**


	8. Who I Am

Growing Up With Dreams

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters. They belong to Misashi Kishimoto. As well, I do not own any of the characters from The Big Windup! They belong to Asa Higuchi.

**WARNING:** **YAOI. Boyxboy**. Don't like it, don't read it. As well, we have changed some of the characters from Naruto and Big Windup. Names and faces will remain the same but ages, personalities, occupations, etc will be altered. **THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING! **Also, a majority of the cities are real cities in Japan. The ones located on the Island, Yumenoshima, however, are fake. So the Island itself and the cities, Shi Yume, Kaigen no Yume, Chīsana Yume, and Nōmin no Yume and the Mountain, Hoshi No Miyama, etc, and anything else on the Island is fake.

**EXTREME DRAMA!**

**Chapter Eight – Who I Am**

"I said _no, _Kiba! I went on that stupid date with you! You promised that you wouldn't ask for more!" Ryder growled, getting more and more agitated by the minute. Kiba just wouldn't let it go! It was only getting worse by the minute. By the day. It seemed that the more time passed, the worse his begging got. Why he was so obsessed with her, she didn't know.

"Oh, c'mon. You can't say you didn't have fun with me!" the brown haired boy persisted.

"We went to the arcade! Arcades are always fun, you dolt! It wasn't just because I was with you!" Ryder sighed, rubbing her forehead in exasperation.

"I won you a teddy bear!" Kiba insisted.

"That doesn't mean I'm gonna like you any more than a friend, Kiba! I'm not interested in dating anyone! My life is complicated enough! You really need to let this go, Kiba, before it ruins something between us."

"What could it ruin, Ryder? All I want is to go out with a pretty girl who isn't afraid of getting dirty and can hold her own with the guys! That's hot."

"It could ruin our friendship, Kiba, because I don't want that with you! I'm not interested. I want to be friends with you but...if you keep pushing; I don't think we can be." Ryder sighed, her bright green eyes staring into Kiba's dark brown ones, trying to convey the seriousness of her words.

Kiba looked crestfallen. He sighed and turned away for a moment to think about her words. It hurt. He really liked Ryder. He really enjoyed her company, her 'I don't take shit from anyone' attitude. She was pretty, a great friend, and had many talents. He thought she was perfect. Only one problem, she was not interested.

"Then, could I ask a favour before I finally leave you alone?" he asked quietly.

"Sure. What is it?" Ryder sighed, hoping he was really giving this thought.

"Could I have one kiss from you? Just to see what it's like?" he asked eagerly, turning to face her with a small smile.

"_What?!_ After everything I _just_ said, you still ask for that? What's _wrong_ with you!?" Ryder threw her hands up in exasperation.

"No, no, just hear me out! I get it, ok. You're not interested and you don't want to ruin our friendship. That's cool. But all I'm asking for is a kiss from you because I've never kissed a girl. I just want to know what it's like. C'mon, from a friend to a friend. Then I promise I will never _ever_ bother you about it again!" Kiba explained calmly, his brown eyes shining.

"Do you realize how ridiculous you sound?" Ryder sighed, running her fingers through her short, soft silver hair.

"I know, I know. But I absolutely swear," the boy put his right hand over his heart and raised his left hand to show his promise, "that I will stop bothering you about dating or anything related to that. I will leave you alone and be happy with just being your friend."

Ryder flushed slightly and glanced at him through her eyelashes, "You swear? And you swear not to tell _anyone_ about it?"

Kiba nodded, "I swear."

With a groan and a flush, Ryder reluctantly consented. If this got Kiba to drop everything, then it couldn't hurt…could it? She hadn't kissed anyone before other than her parents and her older brothers. "Fine."

Kiba grinned widely, showing his sharp canines and moved closer, getting excited. He was finally going to kiss a girl! Ryder however was not so excited. She dreaded it. She wasn't interested in boys and kissing and dating. She had her baseball, dance and school to think about! Though, if she had to admit it, she would admit she liked looking at girls. She wasn't quite sure why. Maybe it was because she hung out with guys all the time that checked out the girls. Maybe it was because she was so used to pretending to be a boy and acting and thinking like a boy that she just got into the habit of it.

But when looking at those girls, she saw how attractive and how pretty they were. And she would feel a sense of longing towards them. This greatly confused her. Izumi Ryder was a girl, despite what she was pretending to be. Not to say she couldn't spot an attractive male because she could. There were plenty of attractive boys in her school. Though for some reason she seemed drawn to girls more so. Maybe it was just a phase. She was a hormonal teenage girl. Pretending to be a boy was probably just throwing her off kilter. She'd get over it.

So she took a deep breath, moved as close to Kiba as was comfortable for her and plucked up her courage. "Ready?" she whispered more for herself than for Kiba but he nodded anyways.

Trying to ignore the tense, stiffness coming into her body, Ryder inhaled and puckered her pink lips, leaning forward and closed her bright green eyes. Kiba eagerly leaned forward, puckering his own lips and closing his eyes.

There was a brief, sickening moment of silence and tension. Where nothing happened. Then their lips met. A gentle, timid touch. Ryder's soft lips quivered but held firm. Kiba's chapped lips pushed gently forward till he was only millimetres away from her. They were around the same height so there wasn't much effort needed. Ryder was wondering how long a kiss should really last when Kiba suddenly started snaking his arms around her waist and pulling her flush against him.

Shocked, she opened her eyes and pulled away from the kiss to stare at Kiba, a bright red flush on her pale cheeks. "What are you doing?" she asked a little breathlessly.

Kiba grinned mischievously, "Kissing you," he said quietly.

Ryder flushed darker, shoved him away and abruptly punched his arm, sending him stumbling back. "You asked for a kiss, not a make out! Don't push my boundaries, Kiba!" Ryder yelled, furious tears in her eyes. She turned and stormed out of the room and slammed the door closed.

Kiba rubbed his arm with a grimace. He really should reconsider his choice in girls. Someone not so loud or violent. Maybe cute little Hyuuga Hinata. She was shy, quiet, non-violent and adorable. Not to mention she was a girl who liked boys. Like normal teenage girls.

The only downside to Hinata was that the lavender eyed girl was deeply into Naruto. Kiba would have to find a way around that. As far as he was aware, Naruto wasn't into Hinata. Naruto wasn't really into anything since he started working. No matter. Ryder was just too dangerous to his health.

…

In the second semester of their Grade 9 year, Gaara made his way towards his new homeroom. Because the school population kept growing, the homerooms had to be switched around. Not that he minded really. It didn't matter. He still had Shikamaru and Chouji to hang out with during breaks and lunches. Even after school they went to each others homes to play video games and chill.

Getting a new homeroom didn't bother the red head. Despite him being in the same school for 3 years and being a senior, there still wasn't really all that many people who recognized him or talked to him. His life had gotten a little more interesting after blowing up at Orochimaru a few months back. Sasuke had gotten aggressive towards him but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. Gaara had been through worse.

Whatever Sasuke thought he could throw at him, Gaara could deal. He was just so glad to be rid of Orochimaru and his abusive control. He felt almost normal now. Kankuro, his older brother, was graduated from High School already and had a full time job, trying to save up for College and Temari, his older sister, was 23, going to college still and still managing the bar for Hidaka-San. Things were going smoothly and Gaara couldn't complain. He had his books, his friends, his family, and no dark cloud hanging over him anymore.

Entering the homeroom, Gaara noticed a very crowded room. Where students would usually sit in single file, tables were now pushed together to make room so students could sit side by side. It looked like students were sitting where they wanted so they chose to sit by their friends. Luckily for him, it didn't look like Sasuke was in this homeroom.

There were a few open seats left, most were by other kids. There was only one set of desks with 2 seats open so Gaara headed for that one. He didn't know any of the other students enough to want to sit by them. He settled in and opened a book, reading until the homeroom teacher came in to get attendance.

He only got a few sentences in when he heard someone walk up in front of him. Looking up, Gaara saw a shock of blonde hair, a huge friendly grin and strange whisker like scars on tanned cheeks. "Hey! I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Would you mind if I sat next you? All the other seats are taken," the boy introduced himself.

Gaara nodded and watched as the bright blue eyed boy set his bag down and slumped into the chair. The boy he recognized around the school. He had seen him gallivanting around, being loud and obnoxious. Gaara thought he also remembered him from the baseball team. He had seen him play once. Strong arm.

"Whatcha reading?" Naruto asked suddenly, trying to make polite conversation.

Gaara blinked, momentarily caught off guard. "Uh, Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens." 

"What's it about?"

"Uh… an orphan, Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. Then he escapes to London and is taken in by pick pockets then is caught and taken in by a Magistrate, Mr. Brownlow. Then is captured again and brought back to the pickpockets and threatened to stay. Forced to help in a burglary, he gets shot and is abandoned by the pickpockets and ends up under the care of the people he was supposed to rob who turns out to be his Aunt. There's a lot more to it; it's a complicated story," Gaara grinned at Naruto who had his head cocked to the side.

"Sounds interesting. Did you get it from the library?"

"No, this is mine. I could lend it to you if you'd like." Gaara suggested with a shrug.

"I'd rather have you read it to me," Naruto teased.

Gaara blushed slightly, caught off guard by Naruto's frank way of speaking. "Excuse me?"

"You have a great voice. Do you read a lot?" Gaara blushed a little darker. How could someone be so flighty and roll onto different topics so easily? He cast a compliment then asked a question so easily. Naruto was an odd ball for sure.

"Yeah, I do. I've spent a lot of time in libraries."

"That's not really my thing. I don't have time for reading much since I started working, ya know? But I can appreciate a good story when I hear one," Naruto grinned, his blue eyes crinkling slightly at the corners. His eyes were certainly bright and interesting. His whole demeanour was. Gaara wasn't used to someone so buoyant and bubbly.

"Oh, where do you work?" Gaara found himself asking. He wasn't sure if he was asking to be polite or if he was genuinely interested in this boy. There undoubtedly was something about him that just drew his attention.

"Servir Café. I'm a waiter and buss boy." Naruto smiled brightly. Gaara's green eyes were drawn to the scars on the boys' cheeks. 3 lines on each cheek, black and curved. Where did he get those? It's a little too strange to be a birth defect so what were they?

"Oh, that's cool. You play baseball, don't you?" Gaara asked, his eyes flicking back up to Naruto's.

"Yeah, I'm on the Mihoshi Tigers team. I'm third baseman and fourth batter. Do you play the beautiful game?" Naruto's eyes suddenly got brighter, if that was even possible. Gaara could tell that Naruto loved baseball.

"No, I don't. I'm not into sports," Gaara admitted. He much preferred his books. Speaking of which, he had absent minded set his down sometime during the conversation with Naruto. When did he do that? He never sets down his book, not even when talking to Shikamaru. Hmm… there was just something about Naruto…

"That's crazy! You should try it at least! It's so fun. You look like you'd be a good catcher," the blonde winked at Gaara.

Gaara flushed again and didn't know what to say when the homeroom teacher walked in, saving him from replying to that ridiculous comment. What was with this kid? Gaara didn't understand at all. He snuck a quick glance at him through his lashes and studied the small smile that never seemed to leave his lips, the way his blue eyes shone intelligently, the way he would give all his attention to the person speaking.

Interesting. Very interesting. Gaara was going to have to keep his eyes on him.

…

Daisuke wasn't having a good day. Well, he hadn't been having a good few months. Since Sakaeguchi found out his secret and got mad at him, Daisuke had slipped into a bit of a depression. It wasn't pretty. He didn't go out with Ryder or Naruto any more. He didn't tease or play around as much. He was a bit harsh while playing baseball. One time he even made Ryder cry because he made her feel stupid.

So then he started closing himself off. His grades were slipped drastically and he felt like there was nothing he could do about it. He lost his friend. He felt inexplicably like he lost a part of himself. He didn't understand why it hurt so much to lose a friend like Sakaeguchi. He didn't know why he was reacting this way.

It wasn't like he confessed his love to him and Sakaeguchi was rejecting him. Was it? The 15 year old boy didn't know anymore. Is that maybe how Sakaeguchi took it? Did Sakaeguchi mistake it as a confession? When Daisuke said that everything Delilah did was him, did he also take it as the kissing, the dates, and the holding hands? Was Sakaeguchi rejecting that?

If Sakaeguchi did take it that way, what did that mean for Daisuke? Was it a confession of love or confession of identity? Daisuke wasn't sure.

What if it was a confession of love? What did that make Daisuke? Was Daisuke gay? Was he Bisexual? Was he anything? Was he confused? Well, that much was certain. He was definitely confused. He didn't know what he was.

What if it wasn't a confession of love? Was Daisuke overreacting?

"Hey," a soft, familiar voice called out to him and pulled him out of his hazy thoughts.

Daisuke looked up, brushing his green hair out of his eyes and gasped, his heart leaping into his throat. "Sa-Sakaeguchi-Kun? Hi. Can I help you?"

The brown haired boy nodded, "Can I talk to you for a minute?" His eyes were hard and flickering. With what, Daisuke didn't know.

"Sure," the two boys made their way to a tree out in the yard where they wouldn't be bothered. Not many students were milling around. When they reached the tree, they stared at each other awkwardly for a moment before looking away. "What did you want to talk about?" Dai asked timidly, his heart racing painfully.

"Uh, about…you know. Your, uh… issue."

Ouch, that stung a little. _His_ issue? Like it was Daisuke's fault. Not Sakaeguchi's issue. Not his fault. It was Daisuke's issue. He cleared his throat and suppressed the tears that stung behind his brown eyes. "Yeah? What about it?" he asked.

"I just wanted to ask you a few things," Sakaeguchi shrugged and avoided looking at Dai. He waited patiently, heart hammering against his chest. "H-how are you doing?"

"I'm alright. How are you?"

"I'm still upset. Why did you lie to me for so long?"

Dai sighed and looked down, "I don't know. I was afraid of what you would say so I avoided it for as long as possible."

"That just made it worse, you know? You should have told me right from the start so it wouldn't be such a big deal," Sakaeguchi growled, his voice growing stern.

"I know. I'm sorry. There isn't much I can do about it now," Dai shrugged, feeling the guilt stinging his heart and making his stomach sink uncomfortably.

"What did you expect to happen after you told me?"

"I don't know. I was hopeful that you would be ok with it to be honest."

"Be ok with what? That you're a cross dresser and tricked me into falling in love with you?" Sakaeguchi snapped, turning his furious brown eyes on Daisuke.

Daisuke winced slightly, taken aback by the sharp tone. "I'm not a cross dresser. I told you, I did it for my family because they needed help. That's all. But now Subaki is working there so I don't have to anymore. Delilah is gone. I never meant to lead you on or make you like me," he tried explaining.

"No, I didn't just like you, Kazumi-kun, I _loved_ her. Delilah. You. Whoever. I fell hard. Then you do that to me? How could you think I'd be ok with that?" Sakaeguchi's tone rose louder and louder. He got angrier the more he talked about it and it didn't help because Daisuke was just standing there with his head down, taking the abuse without question.

He felt he deserved it.

"It was still me, Sakaeguchi-kun. The whole time, it was still me," Dai said quietly, keeping his eyes down.

"That doesn't make it any better!" Sakaeguchi yelled. "And it doesn't help that you go around looking like that!" he ran his hands through his hair, exasperated.

"Like what?"

"Like that! I dunno. Like…" he looked at Daisuke, his slouched shoulders, his lowered head, his dull, sad brown eyes. "Like someone just died…"

Daisuke sighed. It was true. He had been looking and acting like someone had died when really there was no reason to. He had lied to a friend and lost him. That was all. Yet somehow it was much, much more than that.

"God, Kazumi! Get a hold of yourself! You're acting like your mother died! I'm not your friend anymore, big deal! Why does it matter so much to you!?" Sakaeguchi shouted, confused and guilty.

"Because you were more than a friend to me, Sakaeguchi-kun. You were a close friend. I really had so much fun with you. It was nice to feel wanted, I guess. It felt nice to have someone take an interest in me. To have attention. I'm sorry that I'm not who you wanted me to be. But this is who I am."

Sakaeguchi pulled his hair and turned, walking away from Daisuke without another word. Without a backward glance. Daisuke just made no sense to him at all and he didn't like being confused. He had a lot to think about.

And Daisuke realized then, while his heart was lying in tatters at his feet and his stomach was dropping, that he loved Sakaeguchi Yuuto. He loved that brown haired boy and wanted to be with him. How ironic.

…

A low growl and a soft moan ended what they had started. He pulled away, panting, and got to his feet, leaving her lying there, smiling and satisfied. He reached for his jeans and slid them on, grabbing his smokes along the way. He ran his pale fingers through his black hair and lit one up, walking over to his window.

The pink haired girl sighed and brushed her sweat soaked hair out of her face so she could look at the Sex God in front of her. She chewed her bottom lip as she looked over his shirtless body. What a man! Sakura wrapped the bed sheet around her naked frame and made her way over to the brooding Uchiha, wrapping her arms around him from behind. "Mmm, that was amazing, Sasuke-kun…" she cooed, rubbing her face against his warm back.

He pulled away from her and stepped back, facing her. "Hn."

She smiled sweetly, taking no mind to the distance he had put between them. "May I ask you something, Sasuke-kun?" she purred, her hands clasped neatly in front of her.

"What?" he snapped, glaring at her as he exhaled a lungful of smoke.

"What do you think about us? Together? We've been seeing each other for a while so I wanted to know your thoughts about us," she asked sweetly, her heart hammering painfully against her chest. She wanted him all to herself. If she could just win him over then she would be the happiest 15-year-old ever!

"There is nothing to say about us," he murmured quietly, turning his gaze out the window. "This is just sex, Sakura. Nothing else."

"Oh," his words were like an icy dagger to her heart. How could he think so? She had been a loyal and dedicated girl to him. Whenever he called, she made herself available. "Well it's just been you and me for a while… don't you feel like we've gotten closer?" she tried feebly.

"No. It's just sex, Sakura. And it's not just you, by the way. You aren't my girlfriend." He snapped, his coal black eyes icy as he stared her down. The black haired teen looked intimidating, standing there shirtless, smoking like the delinquent he was.

"B-but… I thought…" she fisted the sheet in her hands, shaking, feeling like her heart was breaking.

"I don't do the dating thing, Sakura. I'm not interested in being tied down and ordered around by some pushy, lustful girl. Either accept that and stay, or get out, your choice," Sasuke explained, getting annoyed at her persistence. Why do girls do that? Even Karin, who was there, last night, asked if he loved her. What was it with girls and trying to force guys to love them and dedicate themselves to them? And why were most guys stupid enough to do it?

That just wasn't the life Sasuke wanted for himself. He was pro point guard for the Mihoshi Tigers Basketball team. He was the right hand man to the most powerful man in Japan, Orochimaru. He had people at his fingers tips just ready and willing to take orders. Orochimaru was even entrusting him to some secret and dangerous tasks and missions, delegating his business to him. Sasuke didn't have time to waste on trivial things like dating.

Sakura, unwilling to lose out to Karin, held back her tears and emotions. She loved Sasuke and she would do whatever it took to stay by his side. Sasuke couldn't be wasted on someone like that red-headed bitch. So if Sasuke wanted to use her for sex, then that's what she would be here for.

"I'll stay," she whispered, her jade green eyes glued to him as he put out his cigarette in the over flowing ashtray and leaned against the wall.

"Good to know. Now get out, I have shit to do," Sasuke demanded, going to his closet to pick out some clean clothes and a towel.

Sakura sighed and sent away her emotional side that would have been incredibly hurt and broken by that statement and put on her 'It's ok because I love him' side. It even came complete with a smile and a sense of playfulness. "Wanna bang one more time before I go?" she asked in a teasing tone.

A fire lit behind his black eyes and for a moment she couldn't tell if he was angry or excited. But then he tossed all the things in his arms to the floor and moved towards her with a feral grace, pushing her back onto the bed and tearing the bed sheet off from her tiny, lithe body. With a joyful and excited giggle, Sakura participated in the sex with a different personality than what she actually felt.

When they finished again, Sakura managed to leave his presence and his house before she started tearing up and feeling awful. She walked home feeling broken and rejected and yet still with some semblance of hope. Some degree of thought that maybe, one day, if she stuck by him, he would see and he would change and he would love her. The way she loved him. One day.

Sasuke, however, thought very differently. It really was just sex for him. He had a high libido and he felt that having sex regularly helped him exhaust himself so he could sleep better at night. After Sakura left, he had a nice, luke-warm shower to cool down and headed to the kitchen for a late dinner.

That's where he ran into his big brother, Itachi. The older brother was leaning against the sink with a very dissatisfied look on his pale features. "Enjoy yourself, Sasuke?"

"Yeah, I did, actually. I hope she wasn't too loud," Sasuke smirked, rummaging in the fridge.

"Actually, that's not what I had hoped to talk to you about," Itachi growled. "You're changing Sasuke… You're getting into trouble, your grades are dropping and you bring girls home almost every night… What's gotten into you?"

Sasuke shrugged and stood, not taking anything from the fridge. "Nothing. I still go to school, I hang out with my friends… that's about it." He didn't tell Itachi about Orochimaru. He got the feeling that Itachi wouldn't like that and he was right. Itachi wouldn't. Especially if he knew exactly what was going on between the two.

"Sasuke, you haven't been yourself for a while… since you found out our parents were murdered you've just kinda became a different person and it concerns me. This isn't you. You've been smoking, and don't deny it, I've found your smokes in your pants pocket, and you've been having multiple partners… You don't even hang out with me anymore. You're withdrawn and angry. Who got you into this?" Itachi advanced on his little brother, making him press himself against the counter.

"Itachi, I'm fine. Who cares about school anyways? It's not important. And it's none of your business who I sleep with or hang out with," Sasuke defended himself.

Itachi was right in front of him now and they were almost touching they were so close. "Don't give me that bullshit, Sasuke. It is my business as long as I'm your brother! You need to stop all this and go back to school, get your grades back up and stop hanging out with the people influencing you! This behaviour is shameful and disrespectful, Sasuke!"

Sasuke pushed his brother away, "What do you know? You don't know me! You don't know what I think or feel! Fuck off, Itachi! You think you know everything when you don't! I will hang out with who ever I want, when ever I want. And why are you always smothering me?! You act like the girls I fuck! You're all over me, all the time! What's your deal? For once, I feel like I'm in charge of my own life and I'm learning cool things and you always step in and try to stop me! But not this time, Itachi!" he yelled then walked away, back upstairs and slamming the door to his room. He had enough of being here. He needed to get away.

So Sasuke packed an over night bag and left the house, not answering Itachi's confused shouts. It was evening and Sasuke didn't want to take the train so he opted for a taxi. He knew where he was going. He knew where he wanted to go. To the only place where adults didn't bother Sasuke. Orochimaru was the only man Sasuke could rely on.

Once there, he paid for the cab and knocked on the door. It didn't take long for the doorman to open it and admit the teen. The Uchiha only felt slightly bad for intruding on Orochimaru. But it was brief. He knew Orochimaru wouldn't say no to him and would let him stay.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun! Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?" Orochimaru came from his kitchen in a dark purple bathrobe. He looked to be naked underneath.

Sasuke grinned slightly and bowed, "Forgive me for arriving unannounced. I hope you forgive me but my brother and I had a fight and I had no where else to go…"

Orochimaru smirked and sat on his couch, gesturing for the young boy to sit as well. "That is fine, Sasuke-kun. I am delighted to let you stay the night. I hope it wasn't too big of a fight?"

"No, it wasn't. He just likes getting in my business and pretending he knows everything about me. Said you were a bad influence on me." Sasuke sighed, setting his bag down by the chair.

"That's just what big brothers do. I can understand that." The CEO smiled darkly and laced his fingers together in his lap. "Now that you are here though, mind if I talk to you about something?"

"Sure, anything," Sasuke leaned forward eagerly.

"I was wondering if you'd like to intern for me. Of course, you'd still go to school because that's very important… but after school and on the weekends, you could work for me as my assistant. What do you say?" his pallid eyes stared, fixed, on the young Uchiha, gauging his reaction.

Sasuke's black eyes widened and a grin spread over his face. "Really? You'd take me on?"

"Of course. I see the potential you have. I'd like you to learn from me so you can maybe even one day be my successor. I need more men like you!" That's it… that's all it took to convince Sasuke to sign his life away to the cruellest, sickest, most disturbing man in Japan.

…

A month later, just after their winter break, Daisuke was walking through the hallways to the washroom during class. He was having a particularly bad day that day. He had failed another test and his teachers and principle were threatening to expel him due to his poor grades. He didn't know how he was going to tell his parents. They were already stretched thin and he didn't want to add to their burden but he just couldn't make himself get out of this slump he was in. What was he to do?

Entering the washroom, he looked up with his muddy brown eyes and suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. There at the sink, washing his hands was Sakaeguchi. Since last month when Sakaeguchi had yelled and walked off and Dai had realized he loved the boy, the two had been avoiding each other like the plague.

But now here was a completely unavoidable situation. So, as casually as he could, Daisuke walked in without looking at the other boy or acknowledging that he was there.

Sakaeguchi was equally awkward. He had tried to think things through about Daisuke but he just kept going round in circles and he didn't know what to do. So he did what all kids do when they are confused; he ignored the problem.

In hindsight, that probably made it much, much worse but he was 15. What did he know? But he had rudely walked away and treated Daisuke like shit and ignored the poor boy. Yuuto hated seeing Daisuke so depressed and run down all the time and knowing that it was because of him.

"Uh… hey…" Yuuto murmured, drying his hands with some paper towel. He also felt bad for quitting the baseball team and leaving Daisuke to find someone else to replace him with no notice.

Daisuke tensed but nodded as he went to the urinal. "Hey…"

"Look, it's weird to talk to someone while they are going so can I talk to you first?" Sakaeguchi flushed lightly and looked away.

"Of course," the green haired boy answered, turning to face Sakaeguchi with dull eyes.

"Uhm… y-you found a replacement for me on the team, right?" Yuuto asked guiltily.

"Yeah. Hanai Azusa-kun has taken second base and we also added Oki Kazutoshi-kun as first baseman."

"Right… do you… uhm… would it be too much trouble for me to ask to be on the team again?" Yuuto murmured, feeling extremely nervous.

"Why?" Dai asked, curious.

"Well the Season is over so there's time for me to retrain and get back into it. And I really miss it. I miss playing with the guys and having fun… I'd really like to have that back if you have room for me," Yuuto sighed, looking away. After the way he had been treating Dai, he really didn't expect a positive answer. It was worth a try though.

"Yeah, ok. We have room for you. We are going to be losing a few who are transferring to different schools at the end of the year so we will need a few more people. The only ones staying are Naruto, Ryder, me, Hanai, Oki, and you as far as I'm aware. So you can join and have your old position and number back. Hanai will be Right Fielder." Daisuke relented, though he wouldn't really have argued against it anyways.

"Really?" Yuuto asked in shock.

"Yeah. You're a good player. It would be irresponsible of me as Team Captain to refuse a good player," Dai said slowly, emphasizing the fact that he was doing this for the team and because he was Captain. Maybe if Sakaeguchi thought it was just for the team, he wouldn't feel so awkward about it.

"Oh, great. Thank you, Kazumi-Kun… I won't let you down. When is the next practise?"

"Next week, Friday after school in the diamonds."

"I'll see you there!" Yuuto grinned widely, excitedly, and left the bathroom so Dai could go.

Daisuke was left standing there for a moment, thinking about what just happened. Then he smiled and did his business before walking back to class with a light spring in his step and a new found spark in his eyes.

…

A few days later, at lunch, Naruto, Daisuke and Kiba were sitting together joking about something or other when Ryder came bouncing up with a huge grin plastered over her face. "Guys! You will _never_ guess what I just found out!" She sat down beside Naruto and nudged his arm.

"You're dating a guy?" Naruto suggested.

"No."

"You're dating a girl?" Kiba added.

"No!"

"You've got an A in Math?" Daisuke teased with a smirk.

Ryder glared at them all, not impressed by their jokes. "No."

"You've decided you like skirts and girly things?"

"No."

"You saw the teacher crying in the bathroom again?"

"No," Ryder sighed, getting frustrated.

"You kissed Kiba and you liked it?" Naruto grinned, his bright blue eyes alight with knowing.

Ryder flushed, "I told that bastard not to say anything!" she glared daggers at Kiba who just grinned sheepishly and shrugged.

Daisuke and Naruto burst into a fit of laughter. It was so much fun teasing Ryder.

"That's not what I had to say!" the tomboy fumed. "I was _going_ to say that I found out Yamanaka Ino, the one I went to the festival with? She is dating that fatso, Akimichi Chouji!" she started giggling to herself. "Isn't that hilarious?"

Daisuke, Naruto and Kiba started chuckling with her. Indeed, it was quite hilarious. Yamanaka Ino, the beauty queen and princess of the school was dating a middle-class fat kid like Chouji? She must be really depressed or trying way too hard.

"It's just sad," Daisuke sniggered. "She must be desperate."

"It's like after you dumped her, she just fell apart!" Naruto teased.

"Izumi Ryder!" a shrill screech sounded through the lunchroom.

Ryder paled and frowned, turning to see who called her name. It was none other than Yamanaka Ino, storming towards her. Ino had murder in her pale blue eyes. Ryder stood and turned to face the advancing harpy.

"You insult me, that is one thing! But I will not have you insulting my boyfriend!" she trilled. Ino marched right up to Ryder and, though Ino was a few inches shorter than the tall tomboy, she did not seem to notice. "You broke my heart, Izumi-kun but I've gotten over that but don't go projecting your anger towards innocent people!" she growled dangerously.

Ryder looked around the cafeteria and noticed that all heads were turned in their direction. She swallowed and looked back down at Ino awkwardly. "Uh…" A resounding slap sounded as Ino's palm met Ryder's face, stunning the girl into silence.

"Save it, Izumi! I don't want to hear anything out of your mouth!" Ino was now starting to turn to tears. Ino's blue eyes locked onto Ryder's lips and Ryder held very still, unsure of the frame of mind Ino was in or if any more blows would be dealt.

In more of a whisper, Ino finally looked away and added, "I would have been the happiest girl in the world, being with you…" then she looked up into Ryder's wide, green eyes, "I guess I wasn't good enough for you." Then she turned and left Ryder standing there, paralyzed in shock and confusion with a stinging cheek.

"What..?" she turned back to the guys who looked just as dumb struck as she felt. "Anyone want to explain what just happened?" They shook their heads, just as confused as she. "Teenagers," she sighed, moving to sit back down.

But a light tap on her arm stopped her. She looked down into hazel eyes. This girl had a cute round face, pink lips and long, wavy chocolate brown hair pinned back by blue and green barrettes. She was fairly short and very curvy, even under her school uniform Ryder could see that the girl had very large breasts, wide hips and shapely thighs. In Grade 9 too judging by the blue bow around her neck. Pretty drool-worthy if you asked any guy in the room.

"C-can I help you?" Ryder asked, a little unnerved.

"Uhm… I don't normally do this but…uhm… please accept this?" she offered, her voice soft and light and unsure. She held out a little envelope with Ryder's name written in beautiful calligraphy on the front.

"Thanks," Ryder murmured, taking the little envelope that fit neatly into her calloused palm. The girl flushed slightly and bowed politely before taking off down the hallway. Ryder stared after her for a moment, a little star struck. Then she turned and sat down with her friends again who were staring at her, open mouthed. Kiba was glaring a bit.

"What?" she asked.

Naruto cried out in frustration, pulling at his hair a bit. "Only you could have a girl slap you and yell at you then another girl give you a love letter within a 5 minute span!" he groaned.

Daisuke only chuckled and shook his head. "You really were born in the wrong body, weren't you?"

Then Ryder started thinking and staring at the tiny little note folded neatly in her hand. Was she born in the wrong body? She touched her cheek gingerly then looked at the hallway where the cute girl had gone through. Was she playing boy too much and confusing herself? Or was there something wrong with her?

"Ryder? Earth to Ryder!" Naruto's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"What does the note say?" he pressed, his gorgeous blue eyes twinkling.

Ryder looked down at the note in her hands and opened it slowly, feeling nervous. The silver haired child pulled it out, unfolded it and slowly read it out loud:

'_Izumi Ryder,_

_I am Hotaru Moriko. I don't do this often, actually I never do this, but I am afraid I am very shy and have a hard time talking face to face with new people. _

_I have seen you in a few of my classes and I have been to a few of your baseball games. I admire the way you interact with your friends and I am envious of you. You have a gift, Izumi-kun. I can't help but get the feeling that you and I would be great friends. _

_This probably comes off as a little creepy and I do apologize for that. Again, I just don't know how to talk to people really well. Though I would like to talk to you and get to know you a little better. Please meet me after school today by the picnic tables if you'd like. _

_Sincerely,_

_Hotaru Moriko'_

Ryder looked back up at her friends and flushed when she saw their mischievously grinning faces.

"Well?" Kiba prodded.

"Well what?" Ryder shrank back from their gazes.

"Are you gonna go meet her?" Naruto asked eagerly, leaning forward.

"I-I dunno… do you think I should?" she asked self consciously, looking back down at the note.

"What do you think?" Dai asked, his muddy brown eyes calm and happy.

"W-well… I hardly know her and she would just be another person for me to lie to…" Ryder sighed, folding the note back up and putting it gently back into the little envelope.

"Well you're already lying to the whole school so she already thinks you're a guy. What's the harm in having her as a friend?" Naruto made a good point.

"And she's totally cute," Kiba pointed out.

Ryder blushed and tucked the note into her school bag, "Does that matter?"

"Duh," all three boys said in unison. Apparently, there were some things Ryder still needed to know about being a guy.

…

With the end of Grade 9 came the class field trip to the Hot Springs. All the graduating Grade 9 students from Mihoshi Junior High were sent to the Nemui Inn and Hot Springs for the day to relax and enjoy the end of school before Grade 10 and High School started. Courtesy of Daisuke's family of course.

Which made this trip seem a little awkward for the boy but he wasn't going there to work, only to enjoy the natural Hot Springs with his classmates. The Inn of course was run very traditionally which meant separate changing rooms and separate bath houses and generally meant separate parts of the hot springs too. But because it was a class trip, they took down the partitions and just asked that everyone wear decent bathing suits and no horseplay.

So it was with excitement that all the Grade 9 students piled into the Hot Springs steaming water and quickly separated into their friend groups and took parts of the springs to commune and talk and hang out. Sasuke in his black boy shorts, Suigetsu is his light purple shorts, Juugo in his light blue shorts, Karin in her skimpy dark purple string bikini and Sakura in her equally skimpy emerald string bikini all moved to a far alcove away from a majority of the other students.

Gaara in black shorts and red t-shirt was with Shikamaru in light brown shorts and light green t-shirt and Chouji in green shorts and green shirt. Ino had tagged along for the most part in her purple tank-ini but once they got to the springs, she was off, being a social butterfly.

Naruto was in orange shorts and more than excited to get into the water. It had been quite a while since he had been here at the Inn. Daisuke was in dark green shorts and for the sake of safety had left his glasses back in the change room with his clothes but kept the Band-Aid over his freckled nose to cover the scar there. Hanai and Oki were both wearing black shorts and immediately took to splashing water at each other and swimming around in the middle of the pool around the other students just standing around.

Ryder, trying to keep up her façade, was wearing a pair of Daisuke's shorts, grey ones, and a baggy black t-shirt. She had her breasts bound down with her tensor bandage and dared not stray into the water for fear of her shirt revealing her secret. So she sat on the ledge out of the way and just dipped her legs in.

Sakaeguchi came out of the change rooms with white shorts and slowly meandered into the water, looking extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed to be back here at the Inn after what he had found out.

Kiba was wearing brown shorts and splashed around with Naruto and Daisuke for a while then ended up chasing Hanai and Oki around the springs.

And Ryders' new friend, Hotaru Moriko, just stood near the ledge of the springs, immersed only to her waist in the hot water in her one piece bathing suit. It was a dark blue with a bikini-like top that tied around the neck and bikini bottoms, attached by a thin strip of material over her fit stomach, leaving her back and sides fully open. Modest and yet sexy at the same time. Ryder liked that. And so did most of the guys.

Hinata also joined in the fun with Naruto and the boys in a lavender one piece bathing suit. That is, until Naruto spotted Gaara and left the fun to go talk to the mysterious red-head, leaving the shy and disappointed girl behind. "Hey!" Naruto called out to his homeroom desk buddy.

Gaara looked around and saw the blonde moving towards him and flushed almost instantly. He had told Shikamaru and Chouji about Naruto and all the flirty, teasing jokes they made towards each other but they hadn't officially met yet because Naruto and Gaara rarely talked outside of Home Room. "Hey," Gaara murmured and smiled gently.

"What're you wearing a t-shirt for? These are hot springs!" Naruto teased as he came closer, winking his mischievous blue eye.

Gaara flushed darker and shrugged, "I don't like showing off, unlike some people," he teased back. Though he wouldn't admit it, Gaara really did like Naruto and was quite jealous of the way Naruto carried himself. He was always so confident and bright and friendly. Not to mention the great body the teen had!

A chuckle escaped Naruto and he nodded back towards Daisuke and their playful group, "You guys want to join us? You look lonely over here by yourselves." It didn't escape Gaara's attention that Naruto included the silent Shikamaru and Chouji behind him.

Shikamaru finally piped up, "If it's not too much trouble, sure." Gaara had to glance back and stare at Shikamaru. Since when did Shikamaru agree to anything if it was effort?

"Not at all! Come on!" Naruto smiled brightly and immediately headed back to his rambunctious group.

Gaara followed with Chouji and Shikamaru. Shikamaru, beside Gaara, murmured quietly so only Gaara could hear, "I see why you like him."

The red-head flushed darkly and elbowed his friend gently. Reaching the group, Gaara, Shikamaru and Chouji all got their formal introductions to the gang. Mostly in passing because most of them were still horsing around. Though, when introduced to Daisuke, a small spark of recognition passed between them.

"You're Shikkari Gaara? Son of Jirou and Karura?" Daisuke asked eagerly.

"Yeah."

"I remember you! From your Mother's rock gardening! Karura-San was famous for her work!" Daisuke grinned.

Naruto raised a golden eyebrow, confused. "You two know each other?" Little Hinata was slowly trying to make her way back to Naruto.

"Well, not overly. We met back when his Mother was teaching Rock Gardening so he and I hung out during those sessions because my Mom was into it. Until the accident, anyways." Daisuke explained, his brown eyes sad, thinking of the memory.

"What accident?" Naruto asked curiously, looking at Gaara.

The red-head shrugged, "They died."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. My parents died when I was 5 so I understand," Naruto frowned. "The tunnel collapsed on the train they were in and crushed them to death on Valentine's Day." Though he didn't say that he thought, no, he knew that it was murder. Not a freak accident. This wasn't the time or the place.

Gaara looked at Naruto immediately, his green eyes wide, "My parents died on that train too."

"Really?" Naruto asked incredulously. Hinata was forgotten again as Naruto and Gaara delved into a deep conversation, the old memories of the Police Station coming into play. Shikamaru added to the conversation, adding that the famous Uchiha's, detectives, were killed then too. How odd, the chances that all 3 kids parents were killed on that train.

Kiba, though, took this opportunity to slide in next to quiet, sad Hinata and start a conversation with her.

While the conversation carried on between Gaara, Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji, Ryder found herself a little left out. She pushed her silver hair out of her face and looked around the springs, observing the people mulling around. She spotted Moriko just a little ways down, her bare back facing Ryder as she spoke with a few boys.

Ryder couldn't help it. She felt her green eyes slide down Moriko's body. From her long wavy hair tied up and pinned on top of her head, her soft, round shoulders, her curvy, flawless back, her full bum, and down those curvy legs to where the water obscured them. The tomboy blushed and looked away, feeling guilty.

Her embarrassment was short lived however and quickly replaced with shock when playful Hanai and Oki pulled her into the water with a yelp of shock and a big splash. The two boys laughed and splashed and tugged and pushed but Ryder was too terrified to fight back. She kept herself immersed in the water as she moved towards Daisuke, ignoring the taunts from her school-mates. Was her tensor bandage showing? Could anyone see the slight curve of her chest through her now wet and sticking t-shirt?

"Daisuke! Daisuke!" she nudged him urgently away from his conversation. "Dai!" she pinched him.

"Ouch! What, Ryder?" he snapped, looking at his soaked friend.

"Is my bandage showing?" she whispered and slowly standing up out of the water.

"No. Not at all. I don't know how many times I need to tell you, you don't have boobs!" he sighed and turned back to the conversation he was having.

Feeling relieved, and not at all insulted, Ryder then turned a vengeful look on Hanai and Oki. The boys immediately started trying to swim away from her murderous stare. But Ryder was too fast. They both went under, with the help of Ryders strong hands, not knowing that she was under watchful and knowing hazel eyes.

And amongst all this chaos and chatter, there sat Yuuto, alone, across the springs from Daisuke and his big group of friends. Since he had asked Daisuke to rejoin the team, Daisuke had changed drastically. He had become happier; more involved and walked a little taller. Even going out and joking with his friends more often. He wasn't seen walking the hallways with his head down, practically a ghost.

He was happy about that. He really was. It was hurting him to see Daisuke act that way just because of him. Though he couldn't quite understand why Daisuke was that hurt by his actions. Though, whatever the reason, Yuuto was happy to see Daisuke slowly getting back to his old normal self. Even his grades were getting back up.

He watched Daisuke for a little while, laughing and interacting with his friends before deciding to go over there and make some conversation. Maybe try and get this slump out of the way and forgotten in the past. He tried to ignore the fact that the last time he was here, he had kissed and loved and asked Delilah out on a date. That information and the feelings attached now had different meaning.

"Hey," he said quietly to Daisuke, trying to keep eye contact.

Daisuke immediately turned his attention to Yuuto and smiled gently. "Hey! Are you having fun?"

"Yeah. Kind of. Would it be ok if I joined you guys?" he asked timidly, looking around at the boisterous group.

"Yes, of course!" Daisuke grinned, moving over a little on the seats to make room for Yuuto to sit. He ignored the painful, excited throbbing of his heart as Yuuto sat next him and smiled nervously. He would never again make Yuuto feel uncomfortable or nervous around him so he would push away everything he felt and wanted to say. A friend was fine. Friends could work.

At least until Yuuto could admit he was ready for more.

…

Woohoo! Another drama filled chapter. There is just something oddly attractive about writing angst and depression and drama. It's deliciously exciting. I'm twisted, I know. Any who, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. THE LONGEST CHAPTER EVER! OMG!

Seriously… no joke… 20 pages… you guys better appreciate how much hard work I put into this! Hahaha, just kidding! But no, really, you better…

As always, special thanks goes to Bubblez… this story just wouldn't be the same without him and his wonderful help and input. He is definitely my Partner In Crime.

**Please READ & REVIEW**! I would love to hear what you guys think about everything that's going on and what you think of the story in general.

**All my love,**

**TLC**


	9. To Change Minds

Growing Up With Dreams

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters. They belong to Misashi Kishimoto. As well, I do not own any of the characters from The Big Windup! They belong to Asa Higuchi.

**WARNING:** **YAOI. Boyxboy**. Don't like it, don't read it. As well, we have changed some of the characters from Naruto and Big Windup. Names and faces will remain the same but ages, personalities, occupations, etc will be altered. **THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING! **Also, a majority of the cities are real cities in Japan. The ones located on the Island, Yumenoshima, however, are fake. So the Island itself and the cities, Shi Yume, Kaigen no Yume, Chīsana Yume, and Nōmin no Yume and the Mountain, Hoshi No Miyama, etc, and anything else on the Island is fake.

**EXTREME DRAMA!**

**Chapter Nine – To Change Minds**

Same school, different building, different grade and, to the 15 and 16 year olds, a whole different way of life. Every year, things got harder and harder. Though now there were only 3 years of school left before they graduated. The excitement was in the air. New grade meant new friends and new subjects and teachers.

For the boys, it meant new uniforms. Instead of the stiff, uncomfortable Gakuran uniforms with their year stitched into their collars, they got to have Blazer Style uniforms with different coloured ties to show their years. For Grade 10, their colour was purple. Grade 11 was silver and Grade 12 was gold.

But for Naruto and his rambunctious group of friends, it just meant that they were trying to see who was in whose class and who had their breaks together.

For Sasuke, however, it meant nothing. It was just another year. More things to avoid, more things to hide, and more girls to ignore. The 15 year old was feeling like king of the school though! People worshipped him despite him being a junior in High School. People knew and respected him. They moved out of his way in the hallways, they didn't make eye contact, they gave him whatever he wanted when he asked and he had quite a large group of followers who always had his back.

There was nothing that could hold this Uchiha back. Except for his older brother. Itachi had graduated 4 years ago at 15 and was already in University, much to Sasuke's dismay, but for some reason, he still had enough time to follow up on Sasuke and to be overbearing of the teen. It was always 'Sasuke, don't do that', 'Sasuke, you used to love cuddling with me and wanting my advice, what happened?', 'Sasuke, you need to stop this', 'Sasuke, I'm worried about you', 'Sasuke, come home'. Frankly, it was exhausting.

Why couldn't Itachi just accept that Sasuke wasn't that innocent, foolish child he used to be? He was his own man now, being Orochimaru's right hand man and starting to run his own gang. Orochimaru sure had a lot of connections and was more than happy to take Sasuke under his wing. Sasuke really appreciated everything Orochimaru was doing. He was trusting Sasuke with so many things that Itachi never would have. Itachi never would have approved of anything Sasuke was doing and would have held Sasuke back.

Once opening ceremonies were done, Sasuke picked up some chick that was eye-fucking him during the entire 2 hour lecture. He brought her to the school bathrooms as the rest of the students left and wandered around and had a quickie. The second he was finished, he left her in the stall to compose herself and joined the rest of the crowd.

He just wanted to get through the rest of today as fast as possible. Orochimaru had said he wanted Sasuke to meet someone special. The young Uchiha was quite excited. If Orochimaru thought this person was special then Sasuke was eager. Orochimaru rarely gave out compliments when they weren't deserved.

So the rest of the day, of course, went very slowly. Of course it did. It was just because it wanted to spite Sasuke and prevent him from doing what he wanted. To bad he couldn't control the time or the world like he could his followers. Eventually though, with his patience tested, Sasuke was finally able to leave the school and ditched his crowd to go to Orochimaru's.

"Ah, Sasuke-Kun! So glad you came! How was school?" the CEO asked, his smile a little too big, his voice a little too enthusiastic.

"Hn, just opening ceremonies. Nothing important," Sasuke shrugged, sitting down in the office chair offered to him and running his fingers through his black hair.

"And how is your dear brother?" his cold eyes never left Sasuke.

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know. Haven't seen him in a while but he's been texting me constantly, bothering me. Saying I've changed and 'whatever happened to the little boy who used to sit in my lap?'" Sasuke mocked, making a disapproving face.

Orochimaru smirked and laced his fingers together on his desk in front of him. "He just cares about you and misses you."

"I don't care. He holds me back; he's dead weight. Anyways, who's this person you wanted me to meet?" Sasuke sat forward in his chair, coal black eyes shining with interest.

"Always to the point, aren't you?" the older man chuckled. Then he stood and crossed the room with long strides, adjusting his suit jacket and tie along the way. There was a door that connected to a board room sitting on the right wall and Orochimaru opened that door and beckoned in an older man. Sasuke stood up and walked forward eagerly.

This man was a little taller than Sasuke by a few inches. He had blonde hair. Some was up in a ponytail, some was still just straight down his back and bangs hanging over the left side of his face and he had pale blue-grey eyes. He looked to be only 17 but looking at the lines in his pale face, Sasuke thought the man was maybe in his late twenties.

"Sasuke-kun, this is Deidara-kun. This man has a brilliant mind and has been a good friend of mine for 10 years! His specialty is art. Particularly explosives. He is the head Explosives Technician, the best in Japan. And I think you and he would be such great friends! I was kind of hoping you would accept him as a sort of mentor," Orochimaru explained with a sly grin on his white face.

"This is Uchiha Sasuke, Deidara-kun. I have taken him as an apprentice of sorts. He does a lot for me. A very trustworthy young fellow."

"Uchiha, huh? Like, _the_ Uchiha? The most notorious and efficient Detectives and Police officers in Japan?" a strange gleam lit behind those blue eyes and Sasuke immediately liked this man.

"Hai. Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto were my parents." It still hurt to think of them for Sasuke. It hurt to think that someone murdered them. Ever since Naruto told him about how it was a cold case murder and not an 'accident', that fact had driven the poor boy mad. He wanted to know who killed them. He wanted to know the evil monster responsible for ruining his life. Sasuke thought maybe knowing Orochimaru and having great connections, maybe he could find out who it was.

"Were? Past tense?" that wicked little gleam was still there in those pale eyes. Sasuke hesitated for a moment. It almost looked like Deidara-San knew something but wasn't letting on about it. But Sasuke nodded anyways.

"Hai. They were murdered ten years ago in the train tunnel to Chīsana Yume when the tunnel collapsed on the train they were in," Sasuke said.

"Murdered? How would you know that? I thought it was an accident," Orochimaru inquired.

Sasuke shrugged, trying to come off as cool and nonchalant even though he was hurting inside. "Investigators found remnants of C4 residue and wires for a sensor. They couldn't find enough to connect anyone to it so it went cold."

"Very interesting," Orochimaru and Deidara shared a knowing look.

Sasuke frowned, not liking the feeling of being left out and not knowing something that others did. "Why? Do you guys know anything about it?"

Deidara shook his head, "Not anymore than you do, Shorty." Sasuke glowered at the nickname but before he could say anything against it, Deidara changed the subject and led Sasuke away. "So, do you like art, un?"

…

Itachi didn't like this. He didn't like this one bit. The 19 year old was incredibly suspicious of his little brother. Sasuke just hadn't been the same since he lost Naruto as a friend but it only got worse when he discovered that their parents were murdered, not killed accidentally. Things just went downhill and Itachi hated it.

Whatever happened to his loving, adorable younger brother? Where did the cute boy go who used to take refuge in his brothers' arms and seek solace and advice and comfort in his lap? Where did the sweet little boy who adored him go? Sasuke grew up much too fast for Itachi. He wasn't ready for Sasuke to hate him and want nothing to do with him.

He still very much cared for his little brother and wanted to look out for him and be his idol. Though Sasuke wouldn't admit it or say who, Itachi knew that Sasuke had found someone else to look up to. Whoever it was, Itachi didn't like it. Not one bit. Whoever it was, he (or she) was a bad influence. Itachi needed to figure out who it was and put a stop to all of this nonsense. He wanted Sasuke back home with him. To be the way they used to be.

The University student would have to do some digging. Until then though, he still had the mystery of their parents' death to figure out. In his spare time, the teenager started keeping a scrapbook of sorts to keep track of all the findings he came across. He went into the archives and dug up old newspapers and records. He even asked the investigators who were investigating the crime at the time what their leads were. Itachi was even smart enough to ask under the pretext of doing research for a paper he was writing for school. It was believable because, after all, he was a Law student.

And after a while, all his hard work and dedication came up with something interesting. Though not many people would admit it or say it out loud, many pointed a suspicious finger at Orochimaru, the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, Nāga Corporation. According to records, Nāga had 'Seven Heads' of innovation; Cures for Cancer, Medical Advancements, Scientific Improvements, Floral Medicines, Floral Hallucinogens, Chemical Development and Lab Testing. Though, due to the major advances in medicine and science, the Government and everyone else seemed to turn a blind eye to the testing, chemical development and hallucinogens.

A little more digging revealed that Orochimaru had his grubby little hands on more than just Nāga. He also owned the controlling stakes in a major Weapons Manufacturing company. Not only was that suspicious enough, but then Itachi took note that this manufacturing company also dealt in chemical weapons like bombs and other explosives. There were red flags all over this bastard and Itachi was determined to get to the bottom of this. The Law Students' mind was whirling, never stopping, contemplating, determined. He would figure out who killed his parents and he would figure out who had changed his brother and took over his place in Sasuke's life.

Nothing would stop this Uchiha from working everything out and coming out on top.

…

The beginning of the year was always a bit of a complicated time for Gaara. And now that it was High School, the pressure was only going to grow from here. You have to know the right people, you have to be in the right clubs and be friends with the right teachers. You have to know all the ins and the outs and be able to keep up with the politics of school life while trying to map out your future career. There was a lot to manage being a teenager. Gaara didn't like it. He didn't like the pressure and the stress of all the bull shit that everyone else bought into.

He had his own friends and whether he or they were cool or not was not really his concern. He was going to focus solely on his school work and just try to make it by without being seen. Though joining a club was mandatory so he was at a loss of what to do.

Opening ceremonies were always a big deal for Japanese students. You learned almost everything you needed to know about the school and what would happen in that year in the few hours they had you sitting in the gymnasium.

Shikamaru looked rather smart in his blazer uniform with the purple tie. At the opening ceremonies, everyone had to look their best so even Gaara's lazy best friend had his shirt tucked in and jacket buttoned up properly. Chouji looked pretty spiffy too and for once he didn't have a bag of chips or candy in his hand. The three sat together and listened quietly and politely during ceremonies like you're supposed to. But the red-head couldn't help his wandering blue-green eyes.

Browsing the room to see who all was there, he could see Uchiha Sasuke, flirting shamelessly with some red-headed girl with glasses. Gaara was still angry with Sasuke and Orochimaru. He moved on. Then his eyes fell on a familiar mop of sunshine yellow hair and he couldn't stop the small smile that painted itself on is lips. Uzumaki Naruto had been quite the whirlwind of adventure. That boy was a handful of playful energy and it was hard to keep up with him and normally, Gaara would have been drained and exhausted. However, the energy and happiness with which Naruto carried himself was incredibly contagious. The conservative red-head found himself opening up and being just as playful when Naruto was around.

After opening ceremonies, they all went to their designated homerooms. Today was mainly for signing up for the various mandatory clubs and tasks for home rooms like Class Rep, Library Duty, School council and what have you. Through the new and unfamiliar hallways he went, careful to keep his eyes out so he wouldn't bump into anyone. He recognized many students from his junior high school and many from his old classes but there were many more that he didn't recognize that all wore silver and gold ties.

Sadly, he and Shikamaru didn't share the same homeroom. Gaara started to worry, as he found himself a seat, if he was going to be alone in homeroom this year and if he would make any friends or enemies. He settled in and waited nervously for the teacher to show up when something by the classroom door caught his eyes.

An unmistakable mop of sunshine hair bouncing through. Uzumaki Naruto was in his homeroom again! A secret desire to have Naruto sit beside him went through his mind. He really enjoyed having the ball of energy beside him. It always kind of made his day go by faster.

Naruto was laughing with the green haired boy Gaara had come to know as Kazumi Daisuke. They both had their blazers done up, purple ties were perfectly tied, their bookcases all polished and clean, waiting to be used. The two boys looked picture perfect to Gaara. How did they always look so carefree and happy? How did they always look so flawless and in place? Gaara envied that.

He fully expected the two to sit together and he would end up sitting next to someone he didn't know. That's just how the world worked after all. But to the red-heads surprise, Naruto spotted him and made his way over; his bright blue eyes alight with excitement, and sat down next to him. Daisuke happily sat in the row of desks in front of them.

"Hey, Gaara-kun! I'm glad you're in this homeroom too! Are you excited for the new year?" Naruto asked, a big excited grin on his whisker scarred face. Not for the first time, Gaara wondered where those scars came from. He glanced away in embarrassment but smiled at both Daisuke and Naruto.

"Yes. One year closer to graduating and being free!" he admitted. That was one thing he found slightly unnerving about Naruto. He always just wanted to be honest and blurt the truth or whatever thoughts crossed his mind. Something he never, _ever_ did normally.

"I hear ya! I can't wait to graduate! Do you have any plans for after high school?" Naruto tilted his head slightly to the side; a trait that Gaara found quite endearing.

"Uhm… I haven't given it too much thought actually… but I was thinking maybe something along the lines of counselling or teaching. What about you?" Gaara fidgeted. He usually did when the attention was on him.

"I was hoping for Law School. Not sure what for quite yet but I just have this feeling that that's where I want to start. What about you, Dai?"

The quiet boy just shrugged with a gentle smile on his face. "Not sure really. Haven't planned that far ahead. To be honest though I just want to stay in baseball. I don't really have an interest in much else."

"That would be so cool! To know a Pro Baseball star! You gotta keep at it, Dai! I'm sure you'll do it!" Naruto grinned, his eyes closing, something he did often.

"Do what?" Ryder walked up behind the 3 boys, her silver hair a pretty mess as usual, her bright green eyes dull and bored.

"Just talking about what we want to do after high school. What do you want to do, Ryder?" Naruto asked.

Ryder shrugged her shoulders and sat beside Daisuke. "I don't know. I'm not interested in anything really. And I'm not good at a lot of things. I can't cook or sew, I have trouble keeping my grades up 'cause I'm not very smart…" she sighed.

Daisuke and Naruto shared a look then rounded on Ryder. "What's gotten into you? You're usually so… 'I'll take on the world!'…" Naruto asked suspiciously.

Gaara listened quietly, watching the exchange. He knew Izumi Ryder was on Daisuke's and Naruto's baseball team and that the three had been best friends since they were children. But he didn't feel like he knew any of them enough to weigh in on the conversation.

"What got into you to put you in such a downer mood?" Naruto asked, leaning forward on his desk.

Ryder ran her tanned fingers through her silver hair and looked at Dai and Naruto with sad eyes. "My oldest brother, Ryuzaki, came home, bragging all about how well he is doing in University and how he gets honours and the Professors love him and how everything is so easy to him. He _likes_ being a traditionalist Japanese… he wants Mom and Dad to approve of this woman he's seeing. She's pretty, comes from a high class family, is going to school to be a Doctor of some sort, she can cook and wants to look after a husband and raise a family… then Dad turned around and started lecturing me that I should take after him and…." She stopped then and turned away, getting tense and rigid as she often did when it felt like she would cry.

Despite her being her Daddy's Little Girl, and despite her following her dreams, she couldn't share those dreams with her family because she would never be good enough. She took several deep breaths to calm herself and just rested her chin in her palm with her elbow resting on her desk. She was so done with the traditions and bullshit expectations in her household. She wanted to just be herself without being judged…

"That's terrible, Ryder… I'm sorry to hear about that. But you know, you're great at dance and baseball and you kick all our asses at almost any video game… you're great with computers… The list goes on!" Daisuke insisted.

"Yeah. And regardless of what your family thinks, you have us, Ryder. Me and Dai and Gaara-kun too. Not to mention your other brother, Kio… he's in Grade 12 this year, isn't he? He's always had your back. We have too. Look at how much you've already accomplished, Ryder, and just imagine how much you can still do!" Naruto maintained.

Ryder opened her mouth to reply when the teacher walked in and shushed the class, telling everyone to find a seat. The conversation was put off for now but Gaara had the suspicion that it would more than likely continue. It seemed like Ryder had self-esteem issues at home despite him being a quite athletic and popular boy.

Then came the tedious task of assigning stations for the start of the year. Duties would switch every week as there were about 40 students to a classroom. Each duty was assigned two partners except for the end of the day; _o soji_. The cleaning of the school. Every student had to partake in that.

Every student put their name in a hat and the homeroom teacher drew them and assigned them. Gaara secretly hoped for Library Duty. He would use any excuse to go there and see new books or reconnect with old ones.

"Shikkari Gaara, you are the first Class Representative!" their homeroom teacher, Mitarashi Anko smiled, writing his name up on the chalk board. Damn. Well, he would get the chance sometime this year anyways. The red-head zoned out while the other names were being called out to fill other positions until Naruto's named got called out.

"And Uzumaki Naruto for the second Class Rep! Good luck boys! Now that we've gone over attendance and assignment of duties, we can move on to class rules. Rule number one!" the young woman's voice was firm and bold, as if daring a student to speak up while she was talking. She gave off an I-don't-take-shit-from-anyone kind of attitude and that amused Gaara. Her short brown hair was pulled back, her face was round and her eyes were sharp and intelligent. Gaara thought that she wasn't the kind of person to be messed with.

After homeroom, the students were loud and moving around and talking whilst the teacher left and switched classrooms. Naturally, the conversation turned back to Ryder and his problems at home. Naruto instantly leaned forward and tapped his shoulder. "So since when do your parents look down on you? You're their baby! Their little g-" Naruto stopped instantly, glanced at a confused Gaara, then back to Ryder who was glaring daggers. "Uh, you're their little Prince! You've never done wrong before. Why now, all of a sudden?"

Ryder sighed and shrugged. "I have no idea. I think my parents are finally catching on that I'm not the person they want me to be and now they are focusing on the son that is meeting and surpassing all their expectations. I'm not their favourite anymore and I won't be until I follow in Ryuzaki's footsteps…"

"But you're still their child. They should love you and support you no matter what, right?" Gaara piped up. The other three looked at Gaara with some surprise; it wasn't often that he spoke or put in an effort to be in a conversation. He flushed immediately and regretted talking.

"Well, in an ideal family, yes… In Ryder's family, not so much. His parents are strictly Traditionalist and they have his fathers' reputation to uphold. The more Ryder deviates from the path they set out for him, the angrier and more unstable they become. Though, to be honest, I'm surprised it took them this long to figure out that Ryder isn't what they want him to be," Daisuke explained, looking at his best friend with pity.

"It doesn't matter. I'm never gonna be what they want me to be and they are never going to accept me for who I am. It's all going to blow up sooner or later so I might as well get used to this feeling now," Ryder sighed and faced the front of the class as their new teacher entered the class.

Gaara felt angry. How could parents be so completely caught up in their own lives so selfishly that they can't accept their children? He felt sorry for Ryder. Being the youngest of three sons isn't easy on its own without the added weight of having Traditionalist 'A-List' parents pressuring you and setting out your path for you. Ryder would need a therapist one day soon or he would snap!

After that, their conversation about Ryder stopped. They switched to new topics and tried to lift Ryders' mood by joking and teasing and laughing. Gaara decided he liked being a part of this group of friends. Long gone were the days were he was a terror and a bully and a drug runner for Orochimaru. That was his old life. These were the people he needed to be with. These were the people he needed to keep around. They were smart, supportive, funny, optimistic, loyal… everything Gaara needed and wanted.

His sea-foam green eyes fell on his desk partner beside him. The messy blonde hair, sky blue eyes, tanned skin, whisker scars, pink lips, gorgeous smile and athletic build… Gaara wanted Naruto too. Very much. But he'd be ok with just friends. As long as Naruto was beside him, he felt like he could take on the world and more. He felt like there was nothing he couldn't do! What a freeing feeling. He had to stay with Naruto… always. And hopefully offer the same kind of friendship in return. He wanted Naruto to need him just as much as he needed Naruto.

…

Now, Temari wasn't one for 'Love at First Sight'. She didn't believe in it at all. It was a ridiculous notion for love-hungry teenage girls to hold on to into their adulthood. Temari had no use for false hope on something as frivolous and silly as love. And she didn't need it. She was entering into her final year of College and far, _far_ too busy to look for love. No time! Between her College courses, working full time at the bar & grill for Hidaka-San, and her home life with her younger brothers, spare time was non-existent.

And tonight was no exception. School during the day and working at night, she only had enough time to run upstairs to their apartment, change and clean up and run right back down to start getting ready for their dinner rush. Just in time too as one of the waitresses called in sick so Temari would have to cover for her. Perfect.

Though it wasn't something she couldn't handle. She'd been working and managing this bar & grill now for 5 years, going on 6 soon. Temari was a Master at multi-tasking and handling stress. Love! Pah! What good was it? It could do nothing for her. It didn't take long for the restaurant to fill up and soon Temari was running around a million different ways at once and handling 20-30 different tables. Love couldn't help with her everyday life except distract her!

"Temari, we are out of smoked salmon and curry powder!" the Head Chef called out to her.

Gods, she hated him. With an exhausted grunt, she replied, "I thought you were in charge of ordering the food quantities, Chef?" And it was true. The Head Chef was responsible for ordering the right amount of food and storing it. Temari only handled the receipts.

"Well I didn't order enough! Go pick some up or we are going to have upset customers!" he snapped back with a sneer.

Oh how badly she wanted to yell in his face! But she was more professional and controlled than that! She would show him in private later on! Until then… "Lori-San, could you cover me for a little while. I have to fix Yashi-San's mistake." The blonde heard an indignant call from the kitchen but ignored it.

Lori, a small, friendly and cute waitress nodded and took Temari's tray from her. Then with a huff, Temari grabbed her coat and wallet and took off to the local retailer to pick up supplies. The 23 year old grumbled the whole way there. The arrogance of some people! She seriously wondered if she would ever find someone to love. She was pretty stubborn, hard headed, short tempered, and she hated most people. So a small part of her quietly despaired at the possibility that no one would be able to put up with her and that she wouldn't be able to stand being around men other than her brothers.

Would she be a lonely spinster for the rest of her life?

Not that it mattered, mind you. 'Cause it didn't. But she was allowed to wonder, wasn't she?

After grabbing the supplies, she was on her way back to the bar & grill. But as her back was turned for a moment to the outside as she opened the door, when she turned around she ran smack into a man's chest and dropped her grocery bag.

"Oh shoot, I'm so sorry," she said quickly, bending down to gather the few items that fell out.

The man knelt down and helped her pick her things up but spoke in a language that she didn't recognize at first. She looked at him confused and realized that the man she ran into was an American and he was speaking English. So she thought back to her schooling and tried to pick up on the words he was speaking. She was only able to pick out 'sorry' and 'help'. He spoke much too fast.

"I don't speak English very well," she said, trying very hard to pronounce the foreign words as well as she could. "I'm very sorry. Thank you." And that was about the extent of her knowledge of the English language.

He was actually quite handsome for a foreigner, now that Temari got a better look at him. He smiled widely, his straight teeth white and perfect. His skin was tanned, his hair was light brown and his eyes were light green. And from what she could see, under his American clothes, he looked quite fit. He stood and extended a hand to help her up. She took it and couldn't help noticing how warm and firm his hand was. And how tall he was, reaching almost 6". She blushed slightly, something she _never_ did, and bowed politely.

"Ah, right," he murmured and bowed in return, rather clumsily in Temari's opinion. But then again, he was a foreigner and wasn't accustomed to the bowing. "I'm Colby Lockhart," he said slowly, pointing to his chest.

"I'm Shikkari Temari," she introduced herself with another polite bow. She liked him. For the first time she noticed that he was carrying large travel bags. He must have just arrived. "Are you hungry?" she asked, looking into his beautiful green eyes. He looked so different, strange and stunning like some foreigners do. He had a few days worth of stubble on his face but he did not look unclean or untidy. In fact, it looked quite attractive actually. Trimmed and neat. The tan blazer was unbuttoned and his white button up collared shirt was untucked, hanging nicely over his dark denim jeans. His whole look was completed with dark brown leather dress shoes. He was quite attractive and her heart leapt with excitement. She wanted to know this man. This Colby Lockhart.

He looked at her curiously and tried to copy the words she just spoke, as if trying to think about what she said. "Ano*, food?" she made motions with her hands; one hand cupped in a bowl and the other holding an imaginary spoon or fork, bringing imaginary food to her mouth. "Eat?"

"Ah!" the light lit behind his eyes and he nodded, saying "Yes, please" in a very broken American/Japanese accent that made her smile. He was trying at least. So she picked up one of his travel bags and led the way to the bar & grill. Maybe love wasn't so bad after all?

Thank goodness, little Lori-San was quite fluent in English. The little waitress served as a translator between Temari and Colby. Or Cole as he liked to be called. "Ask him what he would like to eat," Temari urged with a large smile.

"Is there anything we can get you to eat, Lockhart-San?" Lori asked in understandable English.

Cole chuckled slightly, the corners of his eyes crinkling with mirth as he looked at Temari. "Whatever you recommend. I'll eat anything."

Temari decided she liked the sound of English. It had certain fluidity. Or maybe it was just his voice that made it sound so nice. Lori told Temari what Cole said Temari nodded and bowed with a smile, going to tell the Head Chef what to make the American. It didn't take long before Temari brought out tsukemono** and beautiful bowl of nikujaga***.

"Ask him if he needs anything else," Temari told Lori. Lori obliged. Temari was only a little nervous when Cole shook his head then gestured to her and smiled. Lori even laughed and blushed. "What did he say?"

With a giggle, Lori covered her mouth and nose with one hand very cutely. "He asked if you would join him, Shikkari-San. I think he likes you!"

Temari flushed darkly and fidgeted. "Th-that would hardly be professional of me! I couldn't possibly…"

"Oh Shikkari-San, no one would say no to you. You never go out or do anything for yourself! You deserve to flirt with a cute American! Sit with him!" Lori persisted, nudging her boss slyly.

"I wouldn't be able to talk with him… I don't speak English very well…"

Lori presented this problem to Cole and he frowned and thought about this for a moment. Then he went 'Aha!' and pulled out his laptop and plugged in his air card. He did some quick typing and before Temari knew what was going on, Lori was pushing her down into the seat with a wide smile. Lori explained to Temari what Cole was doing.

"Lockhart-San is setting up a voice language translator. You speak to the computer and it translates your language to his and vice versa. So you two can talk to each other through the computer!" then with a sparkle in her brown eyes, Lori left the two alone.

"Thank you for inviting me here for dinner. The food is lovely." Cole spoke to the computer. Then a moment later, a robotic voice, definitely not as nice as his, spoke in Japanese, roughly translating his English to her Japanese. A jolt of excited giddiness went through her and she giggled.

"You are welcome. Thank you for inviting me to sit with you." Cole smiled warmly as it translated to him.

"After running into such a beautiful woman, it was the least I could do," he said, a merry twinkle in his eyes. Temari gasped and flushed, feeling completely out of place. But this was the start of their relationship. The beginnings or stirrings of love that Temari thought never existed. And it all began with a single look and a warm smile.

…

The beginning of the year also meant the beginning of clubs. All clubs met after school every day for 2 hours as was customary and, in Japan, quite mandatory.

Naruto, Dai, Ryder and Yuuto had all signed up for baseball club on top of their baseball team. It was a lot to schedule but it was something they all loved to do. Ino and her best friend Sakura had both gone into cheerleading, Sasuke of course went into basketball though he rarely went, Shikamaru went into Book Club and Chouji joined the food club. Cute little Hinata, always in the background and kind of forgotten, had gone to Tsunade-Sama, the Principal of the High School and Coach to the Mihoshi Tigers Baseball team, and asked to be the Team Manager.

And Kiba, poor Kiba, was left to join the Pet Club. He wanted to be a Veterinarian after all. Kiba had been finding it extremely hard to enjoy hanging out with his friends while Ryder was there. Since his fall out with her a while back, he felt like it just wasn't the same. Maybe Ryder was right when she said that kissing or dating would ruin their friendship. But he would never admit that to her.

And since he had started suspecting that she was gay, it just made it worse. He had seen the way she looked at Hotaru Moriko. Moriko stayed close to Ryder most of the time but she was super cute, funny, friendly and upbeat like the rest of the group. The entire group enjoyed her company. And Kiba knew that look that guys gave really pretty girls. That longing, lustful gaze was unmistakable. And Ryder had that look. It threw Kiba for a loop.

Though, what would you expect when a tomboy dresses and acts like a guy and hangs around with a bunch of guys for years? It was inevitable. But it was gross. As much as Kiba may have liked Ryder before, now he was just disgusted with the fact that Ryder, a girl, would like another girl in the way that boys like girls. It was just plain wrong. And for that reason, it started making him upset. And the more the teenager thought about it, the angrier it made him.

Didn't she know it was wrong for a girl to like another girl? Maybe it was time for Ryder to give up the charade and to be a girl. Maybe realizing that she was a girl and having to act like a girl would set her straight. Repurpose her priorities. It wasn't right, what she was doing. Maybe, he thought that if he took the girl that she liked, maybe it would show her that she really had no chance and realize that as a girl she couldn't have those feelings for Moriko. Maybe if Kiba took Moriko, Ryder would realize that her judgement was being clouded by this ridiculous charade and put a stop to it and be a proper girl like the rest of them.

He liked the sound of that plan. He would set Ryder straight if no one else would!

…

A few months into their first term, The Mihoshi Tigers Baseball team was doing well. This meant that Daisuke and Sakaeguchi were doing well together again. Granted, it was still slightly awkward for the pair but they somehow managed to push away those feelings and work well together in the field. They had even gotten to the point where they could talk comfortably with each other outside of baseball. They did share a few classes together and the same club after school. Though Daisuke was having a much easier time adjusting to life than Yuuto was, not for lack of trying.

Yuuto tried very hard in fact, to reacquaint himself with the friendship he had with Daisuke before the whole Delilah incident. But for some reason he just couldn't seem to get the romantic parts out of his head. He had tried to convince his mind to separate the two experiences and leave it at 'they were separate people'. But try as he might, he kept remembering that Daisuke had told him, again, that despite being dressed as a girl, it was still him. Everything they did together and joked about and felt and experienced was all real and it was all true.

It was just hard for Yuuto to come to terms with that information. So trying to convince himself that these were _not_ two separate people, but one person, was an incredibly awkward and hard thing to do. But over the months, he had been coming to terms with it, only to find that those romantic, loving feelings were still there. Those stirrings of care and happiness were always hovering right there in the back of his mind every time he saw or talked or hung out with Daisuke. And that was what bothered him the most.

He couldn't love Daisuke or care for him or share with him the way he did with Delilah… could he? It was wrong to love another boy. It was a sissy thing to do. It was looked down upon for the most part and yet still… somehow those rousing feelings of love and care hung there and Yuuto didn't want them to go away. Because as he looked back on the friendship he had with Daisuke and the love and happiness he shared with Delilah, the thought of those two people combined into one wasn't as daunting or off-putting as he may have originally thought. The thought of having a fun, smart, caring boy and a cute, loving, happy girl in one person as his partner was actually more attractive than he ever would have thought.

So he tried to be friends with Daisuke and put in an effort to get to know him personally. He started asking questions about his family, his studies, what his likes and dislikes were, hobbies, dreams and goals. And the more Yuuto learned about Dai, the more he started relaxing around him. He really liked Dai; there was a lot to like about him, and he'd be damned if he didn't admit that one day, with some work and courage and patience, he could possibly see himself being with Kazumi Daisuke.

…

**Woohoo! Things are slowing down, characters and plots are being developed and the drama slowly starts to unfold! Please stay tuned for more GUWD!**

**As always, many wonderful and loving thanks to my editor/motivator/cheering squad Bubblez! **

**Please READ AND REVIEW!**

***Ano means Uhm.**

****Tsukemono is Japanese pickles served usually as an appetizer, side dish or snack. **

*****Nikujaga is a home style dish of sweet stewed meat and potatoes. **

**All my love,**

**TLC**


	10. Selfish Demands

Growing Up With Dreams

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters. They belong to Misashi Kishimoto. As well, I do not own any of the characters from The Big Windup! They belong to Asa Higuchi.

**WARNING:** **YAOI. Boyxboy**. Don't like it, don't read it. As well, we have changed some of the characters from Naruto and Big Windup. Names and faces will remain the same but ages, personalities, occupations, etc will be altered. **THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING! **Also, a majority of the cities are real cities in Japan. The ones located on the Island, Yumenoshima, however, are fake. So the Island itself and the cities, Shi Yume, Kaigen no Yume, Chīsana Yume, and Nōmin no Yume and the Mountain, Hoshi No Miyama, etc, and anything else on the Island is fake.

**EXTREME DRAMA!**

**Chapter Ten – Selfish Demands**

"You're going out again?" Kankuro asked exasperatedly. It was like she was never home any more!

"Yes, Kankuro… Why is it such a big deal?" Temari sighed, running her fingers through her blonde hair to get it to sit right.

"You've been gone almost every night this week. Aren't you still working?" It's not like it was a huge deal but most of the time he didn't know where his sister went. Never before in his entire life had she ever gone out more than once month! Let alone four times in one week! Kankuro was just starting to get worried was all. He was allowed to worry about his sister.

The 23 year old sighed and turned around to face her younger brother. "Are you just upset because I'm seeing someone? Or is it because he is American and not Japanese? Since I started seeing Lockhart-kun, you've been nothing but resistant and a pain in my ass. So what's your problem?" she demanded, teal eyes flashing.

Kankuro bristled. He didn't like her accusing him. Whether there was truth in it or not, he didn't like the tone she took with him. "Temari, I don't care who you see, American or not; I'm just worried. You spend a lot of time away from home and I don't know where you are. Are you still going to school? Are you still working? What's going on with you?" he demanded right back. He was going to stand his ground!

"Kankuro, I'm 23, turning 24 in a few days. I am a grown woman and I know how to take care of myself. Don't you think I deserve to go out and have a bit of time off?" The eldest sibling was starting to lose patience.

"This is no time to be selfish! You have obligations, Temari! You can't just forget about us and leave us behind! You have a life that needs looking after here!" Kankuro found his voice was starting to rise with his frustration. Why couldn't she see what she was doing!?

"Kankuro! I've given you both the best years of my life!" Temari snapped, angry and hurt tears starting to sting her eyes. "I've sacrificed a lot and did nothing but support you, care for you, put you through school, feed you and clothe you! How could you _ever_ say that I was abandoning you? I am your older sister, Kankuro, and I've done nothing but give and give and give! So why don't _you_ stop being selfish?! I deserve to be happy and loved just as much as anyone else. And if that means seeing an American who loves to listen and support me, then that's what I'm going to do! Do you not have a roof over your head? Food on the table to eat? Clothes on your back? An education in that thick skull of yours?"

Kankuro was momentarily stunned, unable to speak. How did he respond to that? "Well, don't you?" Temari demanded, her voice shaking. He only nodded yes. "Then have I not done more than my fair share to help you, support you, raise you and keep you safe? Have I not earned at least _some_ time to myself?"

Without waiting for an answer, the blonde grabbed her purse, book, phone and keys and left, slamming the door forcefully behind her. How _dare_ Kankuro accuse her of being selfish? She had given years of her life, did nothing but work and slave and beg and claw her way to do everything in her power to do anything and everything for her brothers. She deserved some time to herself! Even if she was being kind of selfish, so what? Her whole life, she had been nothing but selfless! It was her time now, her turn to think about herself. And despite Kankuro's denials, she knew that he really had an issue with Cole. It probably wouldn't be so bad if he were Japanese and not American but so what?

Cole had been nothing but kind, generous, funny, and supportive since she met him a month ago. He had even taken to learning Japanese with her, trying his hardest to be able to communicate with this stranger. And in return, Temari had asked him to help teach her English so she could communicate back. A strange thing to do for someone you hardly know. Though to them, it was necessary. Cole had told Temari, after much confusion and miscommunication that he would be in Japan on Yumenoshima for 6 months as he was working on a big project for his newspaper back home in New York.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Cole asked immediately after opening his apartment door for her. He saw the tears threatening to fall, the slight puffiness around her sad but beautiful teal eyes and the slight quivering of her soft pink lips.

"I had an argument with my brother," she whispered in broken English, trying to wipe at her eyes to hide the tears. This only made it worse. Her tears started flowing freely and a tiny sob wracked her chest. Cole hushed and hummed and pulled her inside, sitting beside her on his couch. She found comfort in his arms, found care and patience in his voice. He couldn't make out what she was murmuring about. It was in Japanese and she was speaking too fast for him to follow and understand. So he just held her and told her, in Japanese, that it would be alright.

Temari sighed into his warm embrace and let her sorrows melt away with the loving touch of a stranger. Blown away by the simple fact that she hardly knew this man and yet she felt so deeply for him in ways she could not even begin to express.

…

With the end of August and beginning of September, the summer break ended and it was Term 2 for all the students. This also meant that baseball season was almost over as it ended in October. This made Daisuke, Ryder and Naruto very sad. They always hated the winter lull. Even though the baseball club carried on indoors after school, it just wasn't the same as actually going out and playing tournaments as a professional team.

"Do you think the basketball team will hog the gym again this week?" Ryder asked with a pout from the change room stall. For the past two weeks, the High School's basketball team had been occupying the entire gym, refusing to share, with the pretext of 'training for a game'. Even Tsunade, the Tiger's baseball coach, wasn't buying it. But Morino Ibiki, Basketball Team Coach, was not a man to mess with.

"I hope not. We need to practice just as much as they do!" Naruto sighed, pulling off his uniform pants and pulling on his gym sweats.

"Well, Tsunade is the principal; can't she do something about it?" Ryder sighed, coming out of the stall in her gym uniform. For the boys it was dark blue sweats and white t-shirts with the Mihoshi High crest on the left side.

"As Principal, her powers are limited. She has to give everyone an equal shot at booking gym time otherwise it wouldn't be fair. As coach, her powers are even less. There isn't much she can do other than book time like the rest of the teachers," Dai explained, shoving his clothes into his cubby.

And Dai was right. There really wasn't much Tsunade could do for her team without showing favouritism and getting written up for it. The team this year had grown again though. Daisuke was Catcher and Captain, as always, showing great leadership and skill and ability when it came to strategizing the game. Naruto was Assistant Captain and 3rd baseman still. Ryder was Assistant Captain as well and still Center Fielder. The three hadn't changed positions over the years. They knew where their strengths were and they stuck to it. And their Pitcher was a boy named Haku. A very friendly and quiet boy with intense brown eyes that never really spoke much to anyone and kept to himself. He had a wicked arm though. Something Daisuke could recognize and respect.

Then there was Yuuto-kun as 2nd baseman, Hanai-kun as Right Fielder, and Oki-kun as 1st baseman. Then people either dropped out or switched schools or graduated, leaving Daisuke to replace Short Stop with Suyama Shoji, a teenager with a square jaw line, intelligent eyes and dark, short, buzz cut hair. He was a lot like Daisuke; mush more reserved and less rambunctious than the rest of the team. And Daisuke had to replace Left Fielder with the red head, Mizutani Fumiki. He had a friendly grin, wide dark blue eyes and a slender build. And on top of the new recruits, Daisuke had added Nishihiro Shintaro as the reserve. He had shaggy black hair and a very wide, trusting and kind face. Supposedly he was a genius in school as he never had to study for tests, much like Daisuke.

New additions meant training and lots of Team Building exercises. And today was one such day. They really needed the gym to practise today and get something done before the Baseball season ended.

When they got to the gym, Tsunade was already there having a not-very-friendly conversation with the Basketball Coach, Morino Ibiki. "You've had access to the gym for two weeks, Morino-San. I've been nothing but patient and lenient with you and your excessive booking. But now it's the Baseball teams' turn and I must insist!"

Ibiki just crossed his arms and shook his head at the Principal. "Are you sure you're not trying to be selfish and abuse your power as Principal for your silly little baseball team?"

Tsunade clenched her fists and ground her teeth, trying very hard to keep her temper in check. "You know as well as I do that I cannot and will not do that. I've given you two weeks with this gym while the Baseball team has had to do other exercises and training. Two weeks! That's more than fair. Selfish is not a term I take lightly to, Morino-San. Now, today and for the rest of the week, I don't want to see you or your Basketball team here in my gym!" she snapped.

Ibiki sighed and motioned to the boys to head for the hallways. As the team jogged by, Naruto caught sight of Sasuke. This was becoming an increasingly rare sight; Sasuke at school. As time wore on, the blonde boy noticed that his old best friend was just withering away and changing. The Uchiha had lost a lot of weight, constantly looked high and miserable, and yet still somehow managed to carry himself with that 'holier-than-thou' arrogant air that kept him as the king of the school.

Sometimes Naruto still really worried about his old friend. Worried and wondered just what he was getting himself into and often wondered just what exactly set him down this destructive, dysfunctional, detrimental path.

As Sasuke went by, he glanced at Naruto. Naruto only smiled at him and waved before going to the equipment room with the others. Unfortunately, there was nothing Naruto could do for Sasuke. The other teen wanted nothing to do with him so Naruto could only keep his distance and try not to think about it too much. Hinata smiled at him shyly, a blush covering her small pale face as he took the gloves from her with distracted thanks. The flashing smile, battering of eyelashes, and sultry voice was completely lost on the perplexed teen.

…

On Friday, bad news came in for the Mihoshi Tigers Baseball team. "Haku is in the Hospital with fractured ribs and a dislocated shoulder," Daisuke announced with a grim face to the Mihoshi Tigers.

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed, blue eyes wide with shock.

"What happened?" Ryder asked.

"Something about falling off a ladder trying to fix something at home. He's gonna be out for a long time. He can't play Baseball for a couple months." Dai sighed and gently touched the scar over his nose. He was nervous. Thinking. What was he gonna do? Since his childhood injury, he wasn't able to pitch any more. His arm would never be up to snuff and the other players could pitch but not with great aim or consistent velocity. They needed a new pitcher.

"Oh no! What are we gonna do? The big game against Nishiura is only two weeks away!" Yuuto panicked slightly.

They all looked to Dai for his guidance and all he could do was shake his head. "I don't know guys…"

"You used to pitch, didn't you Dai?" Hanai asked, leaning forward.

At this, Ryder looked guiltily away. Dai noticed but didn't mention it; he knew it upset Ryder just as much as it upset him… "I used to when I was younger. But I ended up breaking my arm and it still causes me pain sometimes. I wouldn't be able to pitch properly. I can't do it."

The team fell silent. They all knew that no one would be able to pitch. They could all have a go, but none of them had the strength or control to be able to pitch consistently for the game. They needed a miracle. Naruto buried his fingers into his hair and bowed his head. Think! There had to be someone to replace Haku! Hinata put a consoling hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I-It'll be ok… I'll do some digging and see if I can't find someone to step in…"

"We all should… Everyone, keep your eyes open. Do some scouting. Gym class or even other players from our other clubs here. Anyone who looks like they have control. I'll train them and do what I can, but we need to look for them," Daisuke requested. "We still have a shot at this, guys. Don't give up."

They would need a miracle to be able to find someone not only talented but willing to join the team and pull them out of this mess. Throughout their day, everyone tried their best to look for a replacement. No one had any luck at all. Time was not on their side despite Daisuke's encouraging words.

"Alright class! Get out the Baseball and Tennis equipment. We will split into two groups today!" Maito Gai ordered. The gym class split and set up. After the equipment was set up, Gai delegated the groups. Daisuke, Ryder and a few others went to tennis first while Naruto, Gaara and whoever was left took to the baseball equipment. They didn't have a diamond inside and it wasn't safe to play a full game inside so instead they split into pairs and just practised their throws.

So naturally, Naruto linked arms with Gaara playfully, "Hey, partner!" he teased with a wink of his sparkling blue eyes. Gaara flushed slightly, his heart starting to hammer in his chest; something that occurred quite regularly when the blonde was around.

They grabbed some gloves and just started playing catch. Right away though, Naruto noticed that Gaara had great aim. "I thought you said you hated sports?" Naruto pestered, catching another throw and tossing it back, taking a few steps back.

"I do," Gaara replied, frowning, confused.

"Throw it at the same spot," Naruto demanded, a mischievous grin on his tanned face. So Gaara obliged. Then Naruto took another few steps back, tossed the ball back and waited. Gaara threw the ball again to the same spot. They repeated this process till Naruto was almost on the other side of the gym and Gaara finally missed a throw. "Amazing!" Naruto called out, jogging back to Gaara and damn near crushing the redhead in an excited hug. "Do you know what this means?!" Naruto asked, his hands sill resting on Gaara's sides, their bodies and faces still close.

"Uh… I can throw far?" Gaara asked, swallowing the lump that formed in his throat and trying to still his heart beat.

"No, silly! You could be our new pitcher for our baseball team!" Naruto exclaimed, his enthusiasm bubbling over. It was catching.

"What? What are you talking about?" Gaara frowned and tilted his head slightly to the side. Pitcher for the baseball team? What in the world for?

"Please, Gaara? Haku, our pitcher, was hurt really bad and can't pitch anymore but our big game with Nishiura is coming up in two weeks and we desperately need a pitcher! Please say you'll do it? Please?" Naruto begged, his blue eyes wide and pleading, pink lips pursed in an adorable pout.

"I don't know, Naruto… I've never played baseball. What makes you think I'm any good at it?" Gaara squirmed uncomfortably under the intense gaze. He wasn't sure he really wanted that kind of responsibility.

"You're great! I just proved it! You have amazing consistency, aim, control and speed! With some coaching, you'd be unstoppable! Please Gaara? We really need you!" Naruto's grip never faltered or let go, his eyes never looked away, their bodies were still so close and Gaara's heart was close to exploding out of his chest. He flushed again and blinked his sea-foam green eyes, trying to think of an excuse as to why he shouldn't.

"Please don't say no, Gaara… We need you! I need you!"

How could Gaara say no to that? "Uh… I guess I can… for you," Gaara murmured, the flush on his cheeks darkening a shade.

The ear-splitting grin that plastered all over that pretty, tanned face was worth it. Naruto hugged him again, tightly, and lingered for perhaps a moment too long. "Thank you, Gaara! You won't regret it! I totally owe you one! Let me grab Dai!" then the blonde released the speechless redhead and took off to the tennis courts, dragging the green haired captain from his game.

"Hey! Naruto?! What's your problem?" Dai demanded, stumbling along behind his excited friend.

"I found us a pitcher! Gaara! Show Daisuke your throw!" Naruto jogged down to the other side of the gym and held up his gloved hand. Suddenly nervous, Gaara hesitated and fidgeted. Then, with a deep breath in, Gaara closed his eyes, focused and calmed himself and looked down at his waiting crush. Then with a skill he didn't know he had, he threw the ball straight into Naruto's waiting mitt. He didn't have to move to catch it at all. He did it again and again and again till Daisuke was almost as excited as Naruto.

"Amazing! And you've never played before?" Gaara shook his head no, feeling nervous. "Please say you'll join our team!" Daisuke begged, his big muddy brown eyes shining with admiration.

"I told Naruto already that I would," Gaara shrugged, trying to come off as nonchalant. Naruto jogged back to the pair and slapped Daisuke on the back.

"What do you think, Dai? Worth giving a shot or what?" Naruto bragged, suddenly so very proud that Gaara was his friend.

"Absolutely. We can start training tonight during our club and then this weekend. We've got to teach you and I need to get a feel for your pitches. We only have two weeks to do this." Daisuke was already working on exercises for Gaara to do in his mind. "Your accuracy is astounding and the strength is perfect… There isn't much to improve on…" Dai started rambling as he thought to himself.

While the Captain was off in his world, Naruto looked back at Gaara. The redhead grinned nervously. Naruto grinned back. "Thanks, Gaara. You are gonna be amazing. Thanks for doing this for us."

"I'm doing it for _you_, Naruto," Gaara replied, fidgeting nervously.

Naruto hesitated for a moment. Why would Gaara emphasize that? Why would Gaara do it only for him? He smiled warmly at Gaara, despite his confusion. "Well, thanks for doing it for me. It means a lot to me." Maybe it was because he and Gaara were closer friends than Gaara was with the others? But a tiny voice in the back of his mind told him not to be so daft. Clearly, Gaara was doing it for Naruto because Gaara liked Naruto. In the way Yuuto liked Delilah. In the way Daisuke had admitted to liking Yuuto. In the way Ino had liked Ryder. In the way Naruto had found himself liking Gaara…

Naruto flushed when that thought crept into his mind and he realized he had been staring at Gaara the whole time. Now he looked at his friend in a different light and he wasn't quite sure he was ready for that.

"Naruto! I need you to come to my place tomorrow morning to help me train Gaara, ok?" Daisuke suddenly interrupted.

"Yeah… s-sure," Naruto murmured, a little caught off guard. He glanced back at Gaara again and noticed Gaara was already looking at him. His whisker-scarred cheeks flushed again and he looked away but it was too late. The seed of doubt had been planted…

…

"Guys, I have a question," Naruto suddenly announced at Daisuke's house that night. He, Daisuke and Ryder were hanging out together in their usual study group.

Daisuke only sighed, "I told you already! You do the equation in the brackets first _then_ you do the multiplication!"

"No, not that," Naruto waved his hand in dismissal. "I wanted to ask you guys… how do you tell if someone likes you? But not in a friendship way; more like a … uh… romantic way I guess? How do you tell?"

Ryder and Daisuke exchanged looks. "They try to stay close to you. They look at you a lot and pay attention to every word you say. They get nervous and shy sometimes. They find excuses to be alone with you. They offer to help you in any way. Make physical contact. Eye contact. Those kinds of things," Daisuke generalised.

Naruto nodded, thinking. "Have you guys noticed anyone doing that towards me, lately?"

"Hinata," Daisuke and Ryder said simultaneously.

Naruto paused and looked at them like they were little green men from another planet. "What?"

Ryder slapped her palm to her forehead. "You dolt! Hinata has been crushing on you and giving you hints for months, if not _years_!"

"What in the world are you talking about? Hinata?" Naruto had suddenly been thrown into a whole other world of confusion that he didn't realize existed.

"This morning, for example. She was touching you when she saw your frustration at Haku being injured. She was speaking to _you_ when she said it would be ok and that she would help keep her eye out," Daisuke explained calmly, his muddy brown eyes filled with mirth.

"Or last week at baseball practise and she only gave you a water bottle and no one else," Ryder pointed out.

"She didn't give-"

"Or the way she blushes and bats her eyelashes at you and only stammers when you speak to her, no one else," Dai added.

"I've never seen-"

"Or even a couple years ago, the way she was hanging off you at the festival and only had eyes for you?"

"Ok! I get it! Hinata likes me! And has for a long time apparently. But that's not who I was asking about!" Naruto cried out, running his fingers through his blonde hair in exasperation.

"Then who?" Daisuke asked curiously.

"Gaara!" Naruto finally burst out.

The three friends sat in silence for a minute or two, contemplating this new information. Till Daisuke piped up again, "Why do you think he likes you romantically?"

Naruto sighed and stood, starting to pace the room. "I don't know. I didn't realize it till today in gym. But now that I'm paying attention, all those little things keep popping into my head!"

"How did you figure it out today?" Ryder asked, green eyes curious.

"Well I found out he had a great arm and before I grabbed Daisuke I begged him to join our baseball team. He didn't really want to because he hates sports but I pleaded and he finally said ok. For me. Then I grabbed Dai and after we showed Dai, I said thanks again for doing this for us, for the team. And he corrected me and said 'I'm doing this for _you,_ Naruto' and emphasized that it was for me. Then I noticed he was staring at me with a blush on his face and … I dunno… then I started thinking about all the little things and… "

"So you naturally came to the conclusion that he likes you," Daisuke finished for him. Naruto nodded, still pacing the room.

"So, what's the big deal? If he does like you that way, does that matter to you? You've been doing a great job of ignoring Hinata over the years…" Ryder pointed out.

"I don't know if it matters or not. I don't think it does. I mean, I'm not against gays or anything. I just never considered myself to be one, you know? 'Cause I like girls… I _know_ I like girls. I've _always_ liked girls… but I've never considered… or thought about… guys…" Naruto, poor Naruto, started tugging on his messy blonde hair in his confusion.

"Well," Dai started, leaning back against the edge of his bed and looking at his friend with empathy; he knew what Naruto was going through only too well, "Start slow then. Maybe just keep being friends with him as you have been and let it take its course. When the time comes, think about it then. How you feel, how he feels, your reaction… just don't react too rashly. But don't stop being friends with him. That's worst thing you could do."

Ryder nodded her silver head in agreement, her mind on her own romantic problem, Moriko. "You're also a very emotional person, Naruto. When you panic your mind closes off and you have a hard time thinking things through. So go slow and take your time. Talk through it and work it out."

Naruto finally sat back down with a heavy sigh, "Thanks guys. I appreciate it."

"No problem," Dai smiled and bent down over his homework again. Teenagers!

…

At training the next day, Saturday, Naruto couldn't help the feeling of cold nervousness flood through him. He was trying very hard not to think about Gaara in any other sense than training but it was proving difficult. Now that the knowledge was there, it was hard to ignore. He wanted to be blunt and just ask out right but that would be rude and it might scare Gaara off if he was completely wrong. But then…when was the right time to bring something like that up? When was the right time to figure it out? Was there ever a right time?

Naruto didn't think so. The right time was just whatever time you make it. "Ok, Gaara, when you throw, is there a certain system you use? How do you figure out where to throw?" Daisuke asked, setting up the pitchers mound.

Gaara shrugged, "I don't know. I just kind of have sections in my head."

"How many?"

"Uh… nine?"

Daisuke paused and stared at Gaara for moment, stunned. "Nine?" he asked incredulously.

Gaara nodded, suddenly self conscious. Even Naruto stared at him with shock. "Is that bad?" he asked.

"No! That's amazing… even professional pitchers only divide the strike zone into four! That's incredibly rare to be able to divide those sections into nine!" Daisuke started chattering excitedly, scribbling something down on a notebook. Gaara glanced nervously over at Naruto who smiled and rolled his eyes at Daisuke. Gaara smiled back. He supposed it wasn't too bad to be acknowledged. To be admired for something he didn't have to work for.

"Now, Naruto, stand by Gaara and monitor his throwing. I'm gonna catch a few a see what he's got for breaking balls," the green haired boy explained, taking his place at the catchers back stop. Naruto hesitated for only a fraction of a second before moving closer to Gaara and standing just behind him. The redhead flushed slightly, suddenly feeling uncomfortably like he was under scrutiny and observation. Being judged. Even though he knew he wasn't.

"Throw a curve ball to the third quadrant, inside the strike zone," Daisuke instructed, putting his mitt to where he said to give direction to Gaara. So he did. Easily. "Throw a fast ball, bottom left, inside," Daisuke instructed, again putting his mitt where he wanted Gaara to throw. So he did but the ball arched slightly and went to the outside of the strike zone.

Naruto moved up behind him, his body slightly pressing against Gaara's as he corrected his hold on the ball. "Your hold needs to change for the different throws. For a fast ball, you should hold it more like this," the blonde explained calmly, trying very hard to ignore how close he had gotten to Gaara. His hand on top of Gaara's, his chest pressed against Gaara's back. For the first time he noticed he was a little taller that Gaara. Not by much, just an inch or two. For the first time he found himself noticing how soft Gaara's skin was as he showed Gaara the motion to throwing a fast ball. Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, he withdrew. "Understand?" he asked, a blush starting to spread over his whisker marked cheeks.

"Yes, thank you," Gaara murmured, a very similar blush on Gaara's pale cheeks.

That's the moment Naruto really started thinking about Gaara and what liking the boy might mean for him.

…

It had started out as a typical day. It was a Sunday. It just so happened to be the day before the big game with Nishiura. And as such, it was a tradition for the Mihoshi Tigers Baseball team to hang out together and just relax. Today was no different.

So Ryder had slept in joyfully, curled around her body pillow. There was no greater joy than sleeping in. Eventually she woke up and crawled out of bed. She had her breakfast in her fluffy purple pyjama pants, red tank top and messy silver hair with her older brother, Kio. She watched TV with him too and, as most siblings do, they got into an argument and decided to solve it by getting into a wrestling match.

"You're getting stronger, Ryder!" Kio exclaimed, trying hard to pull the athletic girl off him. The 18-year-old boy struggled under her hold till he finally tapped out. "Alright! Uncle! Uncle!" he called.

Ryder only laughed and let go, victory in her green eyes. "You're 16-year-old sister can kick your ass? You're losing your touch, Kio!" she teased. But they both knew that it was because of her hip-hop dancing and her baseball. Kio had almost always known about her charade around as a boy. He didn't care. He loved his sister and only encouraged her to be who she wanted to be. Just don't get caught. For that, Ryder was very close to Kio. Ryuzaki was a different story but since he was always gone, being at University and all, she didn't care.

The tomboy made to stand up and move back to the couch but once she had straightened out her body, a sudden sharp pain coursed through her body, centering on her pelvis. "Ouch!" she gasped, the pain making her double over. She didn't notice getting hit hard by Kio… what was hurting?

The pain pulsed through her again and she gasped again, holding a hand to her lower stomach. "Are you ok?" her brother asked, his own green eyes watching her, concerned. Ryder shook her head; she didn't know. "Do you need to lie down? Or should I take you to the hospital?" Kio asked, standing beside his sister. He ran nervous fingers through his shaggy black hair.

Ryder shook her silver head again. "No… I'll be ok… I'm just… gonna go to the bathroom… I think I'm gonna throw up," she groaned, hobbling, bent over, to the nearest bathroom. She closed herself inside and just as she sat on the lid of the toilet, she felt something squish. Alarmed, she stood quickly, despite the throbbing pain in her lower abdomen, and looked down. What she saw terrified her. Reddish pink streaks on the perfect white lid. What in the world? She checked the bum of her pyjama pants and groaned when she saw that her pants were covered in the same stuff. What was going on?

Her heart started hammering as the panic slowly rose in her. This was blood… where was all this blood coming from? Other than this stomach and pelvis pain, she wasn't hurt… did she end up getting cut by something? The throbbing pain made her wince. Starting to worry, she slowly pulled her pants off and looked at her body carefully. She didn't notice a cut anywhere. She started the hot water in the sink and plugged the drain so her pants could soak. Then she pulled off her underwear and gasped. They were soaked in dark red blood.

Then a terrifying, horrific, gruesome, dreadful, life-ending thought occurred to the teenaged girl… Did she just get her period?

…

"Huh, I guess Ryder isn't coming… he's having some kind of emergency at home…" Daisuke murmured, checking his text from his silver-haired best friend. The message sounded frantic so he only asked if she was ok. Ryder usually only got frantic when it had something to do about her being a girl so he hoped everything was alright.

Yuuto shrugged, "Hope everything is ok with him. So is it just gonna be you and me today then? It seems like everyone has cancelled today."

Daisuke shrugged and put his phone away in his jacket pocket. "I guess so. Naruto is behind in his homework, Hanai and Oki are on the mainland with their families, Gaara had already made plans with his other friends, Suyama and Mizutani live too far away and Ryder now has an emergency… And Hinata would only come if Naruto was going to be here so yeah… I guess that just leaves you and me today."

"Ok, well what do you wanna do then? Wanna just walk around the mall?" Yuuto offered, his boyish face smiling and friendly.

Daisuke smiled and nodded, "Sure!"

Over the past few months, the boys had been finding it easier and easier to get along with each other. Their friendship had grown again and Daisuke couldn't be happier. Well, maybe he could be if Yuuto would be more than just a friend… but Daisuke could wait. He could be happy and grateful for what he had. He wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that friendship again.

Yuuto had been trying very hard to not think about the awkwardness with Daisuke. He had been doing well with coming to terms with the whole Daisuke being Delilah thing. Though sometimes he did still get angry about it and slightly disheartened because Daisuke wasn't one you could stay angry at. Despite the bond of trust being very thin, Yuuto found himself caring less and less and wanting to be with Daisuke. Wanting to hangout, wanting to do things and go places…

With this strange frame of mind, the two friends perused the mall and several different stores together, joking around and actually having a good time together, forgetting about the fact that their bond was severed and hanging by a thread.

"Here, Dai, what do you think?" Yuuto joked, putting on a pair of wide, tinted sunglasses that were much too large for his face and tried to do a sexy pose with his lips pursed and eyebrow raised.

Daisuke laughed and shook his green haired head. Inside however, his heart pounded painfully against his chest, his throat constricted and he was overtaken with a sudden urge to kiss his friend. A strong feeling of belonging and want and need coursed through the 16-year-old boy. The urge was so powerful and overcoming and unavoidable that, despite the loyal and almost cowardly part of him wanting to do nothing; shouting at him _DON'T DO IT!_ He couldn't help it. So when Yuuto straightened up from putting the sunglasses down, Daisuke couldn't stop himself.

"Like you'd look any better in them! I'd like to see _you_ try the-" Yuuto's words were cut off when Daisuke hesitantly yet firmly pressed his lips against his. Daisuke's muddy brown eyes were closed, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, his body so close to Yuuto's. Yuuto just stared dumbly at Daisuke, their lips locked, his heart stopped and his breath caught in his throat. What was happening?

…

**Wooo! Another chapter comes and goes. Drama develops, characters change and love blooms? Stick around to see the next installment and see how Yuuto reacts to the kiss! **

**Thanks as always to my dearest Bubblez for being a huge help and creator. This story wouldn't be the same without him! **

**Hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did! READ & REVIEW please!**

**All my love,**

**TLC**


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